TUNIS, Tunisia
Tunisia’s main opposition bloc demanded the release Friday of political prisoners amid a deep crisis in the North African nation.
“We are surprised to this day by the authorities’ continued silence and refusal to confront the truth of the charges against the political prisoners who were detained,” Abdelkarim Harouni, a leader of the Ennahda movement, told protesters in the national capital of Tunis.
Harouni noted that “the detainees’ conditions have improved recently due to visits and monitoring requests from local and international human rights organizations.”
Supporters of the National Salvation Front (NSF) staged a protest in Tunis where they chanted slogans condemning what they called a “coup” by President Kais Saied.
There were no comments from authorities about the accusations.
Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis that aggravated the country’s economic conditions since 2021 when Saied ousted the government and dissolved parliament.
Since then, Saied held a referendum to draft a new Constitution last July and parliamentary elections in December.
While the Tunisian leader insists that his measures were meant to “save” the country, critics have accused him of orchestrating a coup.
