Tunisian police have arrested two further prominent opponents of President Kais Saied and the head of a radio station that has broadcast a review of the chairman. The detentions on Monday come amid a surge of apprehensions targeting politicians and other critics of the government. On Monday, officers raided the house of Noureddine Boutar of Mosaïque FM, which has criticised President Kais Saied.
Since Saturday, multitudinous public numbers- including an opposition politician, a prominent businessman, two judges and a former diplomat- have been held. Mr Saied says he wants to save the north African nation from chaos. Police raided the house of Noureddine Bhiri, a elderly functionary in the biggest opposition party and a prominent critic of Saied, and took him down, his counsel Samir Dilou told Reuters news agency. “The police stormed Noureddine Bhiri’s house, assaulted his wife, and arrested him,” Dilou said. Bhiri was held for two months last time, accused of helping fortified fighters travel to Syria during the ISIL (ISIS) descent, charges he and Ennahda denied. Ennahda condemned the ”hijacking of Saied’s opponents”, saying in a statement that ”the expansion of the achievement authority in draining opposition numbers, intelligencers, businessmen and trade unionists is substantiation of confusion and incapability to face heads”.
They included a prominent business leader with close ties across the political diaspora, a former finance minister, another former elderly Ennahda functionary, two judges and a former diplomat. Attorneys said they were arrested on suspicion of assaulting state security. Neither the police, Interior Ministry nor the high minister’s office have intimately reflected on the apprehensions or responded to requests for comment. Saied suddenly shut down congress, dismissed the government and moved to rule by decree in July 2021 before rewriting the constitution, moves his critics called an achievement that pulled piecemeal the republic erected after a 2011 revolution.
