The wave of arrests in Tunisia has continued for weeks as the authorities have made more than a dozen arrests which include opposition politicians, prominent activists, a businessman, a media figure as well as two judges for supposedly criticising the north African country’s President Kais Saied. Additionally, the Tunisian authorities also said they arrested nearly 70 migrants over 48 hours for illegally attempting to enter the country, on Thursday (February 23) after Saied called for “urgent measures” against irregular immigrants.
Saied’s stance on migrants receives criticism from African Union
The arrests on Thursday near the Algerian border came two days after the Tunisian president ordered his security forces to stop all illegal migration and expel all undocumented migrants. This prompted additional arrests and fear among the sub-Saharan Africans as well as Black Tunisians, as per Reuters.
In his remarks, Saied said they needed to address the issue of “irregular immigrants from sub-Saharan countries, “with their lot of violence, crimes and unacceptable practices,” reported Associated Press. He also called for a rapid response and strict imposition of these “diplomatic, security, military” as well as the law on foreigners.
The Tunisian president also alleged that this uptick in undocumented immigration was a conspiracy for changing the country’s demographic makeup and stopping it from being an Arab and Muslim country. The comments made at the National Security Council meeting sparked outrage on social media from rights groups.
They also drew strong criticism and condemnation from the African Union (AU), which released a statement, late Friday, saying that it was in “deep shock and concern at the form and substance of the statement” by the Tunisian president. Subsequently, it went on to remind the country of its obligation as a part of the 55-nation bloc to treat migrants with dignity and avoid this “racialised hate speech” against them.
The next day, Tunisia’s Foreign Ministry called these accusations “baseless” and that they misunderstood the Saied government’s position. Additionally, Saied also said he was not being racist and that migrants living in Tunisia legally have nothing to fear. This incident also sparked protests in the capital city of Tunis where hundreds of people gathered against controversial remarks by the Tunisian President.
Migrants arrested near Algerian border
The authorities in Tunisia said on Thursday, they arrested 69 migrants of various nationalities in the span of 48 hours for illegally entering the country. According to AP, while there is no official data on the number of sub-Saharan migrants, the approximate number could be nearly 21,000 who are said to be entering predominantly from Algeria and Libya to eventually get to Europe.
Pre-detention trial for prominent critics of the president
According to the defence team of three prominent politicians and a high-profile businessman, an anti-terrorism investigative judge, on Saturday (February 25) decided to hold them in pre-trial detention, reported Reuters. This comes after they were arrested amid a wave of crackdowns on alleged Saied critics which have led to dozens of arrests this month.
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The four men in question will be the first to face a judicial hearing, were charged with conspiring against state security. However, some of the lawyers for the detainees of the four men as well as others said they were boycotting the hearings as the conditions of a fair trial were not met. Meanwhile, the Tunisian police, interior ministry and justice ministry have not commented on these allegations, as per Reuters.
The four men currently facing pre-trial detention are Abdelhamid Jlassi, a former senior official in the Islamist Ennahda party, former Finance Minister Khayam Turki, Republican Party leader Issam Chebbi and businessman Kamel Ltaif.
Notably, these arrests are seen as one of the biggest crackdowns on opponents and dissents since Saied’s power grab in 2021 where he sacked the government, froze parliament, and seized almost total power of the country after writing a new constitution, a move that many have termed a power grab and rivals called a coup.
Tunisian police arrest Ghazi Chaouachi
The Tunisian police, on Friday (February 24) arrested a prominent critic of the north African nation’s leader, Ghazi Chaouachi, said his son Elyess, as per Reuters. According to his son, at least 20 policemen searched the house and arrested Ghazi.
Tunisian opposition announces new round of protests over the recent arrests
A Tunisian protest coalition, on Friday, announced that they would hold a demonstration on March 5 against the ongoing arrests after senior figures of the National Salvation Front, an umbrella organisation which has brought political parties and protest groups together, reported Reuters. On the same day, the Tunisian police arrested one of the movement’s leaders, Jawher Ben Mbarek.
(With inputs from agencies)
