Tunisian authorities issue arrest warrant against activist for “terrorism”

Three opponents are arrested later after denouncing “violent attitudes” during a pro-Palestinian demonstration

Oct. 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Tunisian authorities issued an arrest warrant this Tuesday against opposition activist Hela Gharbia after accusing her of several crimes related to terrorism, a charge that is usually brought against opponents in the country along with corruption or insults to public officials. in the context of increased repression in the country.

The spokesperson for the Anti-Terrorist Judicial Agency, Hanane Qaddas, has reported that she is accused of forming a terrorist group, inciting others to join it and conspiring against the internal and external order of State security, committing an attack aimed at changing the structure of the State, inciting residents to attack each other, causing chaos in Tunisian territory and other crimes that the investigation may reveal,” according to the Tunisian radio station Mossaique FM.

Qaddas has also assured that Gharbia has made publications on social networks in which he “attacked the institutions and symbols of the State and incited against the existing regime in the country in a way that would affect the prestige of the State, its institutions and its president, and “it would sow terror and anxiety among the population, and cause confusion and encourage extremist groups to commit acts of violence and chaos.”

On the other hand, the activist Ayub Amara has denounced the arrest of three of his colleagues, whom he has identified as Luay Jammassi, Wael Nauar and Yahaer Channa, just one day after the Ministry of the Interior denounced “violent acts” during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in which the aforementioned people had participated, according to the Kapitalis news portal.

The opposition, mostly united around the National Salvation Front (FSN), has denounced for more than two years an authoritarian drift by the country’s president, Kais Saied, and has demanded his resignation, especially given the wave of arrests of opponents, activists and journalists, as well as the low participation rates in the constitutional referendum and the elections held since then in Tunisia.

Saied assumed additional powers in 2021 when he closed the elected Parliament, dominated by the Islamic Ennahda formation, and went on to govern by decree before assuming authority over the judiciary, an action by which he assumed all state powers and considered by his critics like a self-coup d’état. Furthermore, he has renewed his mandate after sweeping elections marked by low participation and which have been preceded by an intense campaign of arrests.