Lawyers for Chaima Issa, a well-known Tunisian writer and human rights activist, say she was arrested at a protest in Tunis on Saturday as hundreds demonstrated against the curtailing of freedoms.
Issa is among some 40 people, mainly critics of President Kais Saied, who received lengthy prison terms on charges of plotting against the state at a mass appeal trial on Friday.
"We were marching in the protest when a group of plainclothes officers grabbed her and pushed her inside a vehicle," Issa's lawyer, Samir Dilou, told French news agency AFP.
"They could have arrested her the day of the verdict at her home," Dilou added. "She wasn't going anywhere. If she wanted to go on the run, why would she be demonstrating?"
Issa was on a list of people wanted by police after the appeal court confirmed the verdict against her, a source in the judiciary told Tunisian news agency TAP.
She will be taken to prison to serve her 20-year term, the source said.
'Suppression of freedoms'
The protest in the capital, called by Tunisia's leading women rights groups the Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) and Aswat Nissa, denounced what many see as a growing clampdown on dissent and rights defenders.
"This protest comes amid the authorities' systematic suppression of free speech and the free voices of activists, journalists and others," said Nadia Benhamed, a senior member of the ATFD.
"We reject the suppression of freedoms," she added. "Freedom of expression and thought is our right."
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Tunisia emerged as the only democracy of the Arab Spring. But since Saied staged a power grab in 2021, suspending parliament and dismissing government ministers, rights groups have criticised a rollback on freedoms.
Dozens of the president's critics have been prosecuted or jailed, including on terrorism-related charges and under a law the president enacted in 2022 to prohibit "spreading false news".
"We won't give up on our gains and on our freedoms," said Manel Othmani, another protester and activist. "We can't surrender the freedom of speech we've gained since 2011."
Opposition on trial
Issa – a member of the National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition groups that stand against Saied – was first arrested in February 2023.
She is one of around 40 high-profile defendants tried earlier this year for national security offences including "conspiracy against state security" and "belonging to a terrorist group". They were originally sentenced in April to terms ranging from 13 to 66 years in prison.
Their mass appeal this week succeeded only in reducing the maximum term to 45 years.
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A European Parliament vote on Thursday called for the release of "all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression, including political prisoners and human rights defenders" in Tunisia.
Saied condemned the resolution as "blatant interference", saying the European Union could "learn lessons from us on rights and freedoms".
(with AFP)
