The Tunisian authorities deny the authorization to the opposition protest called on Sunday in the capital

March 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Tunisian authorities have denied authorization for a demonstration called this Sunday by the opposition National Salvation Front to protest against the recent arrests of opponents and activists and denounce the authoritarian drift of the president, Kais Saied.

The governor of the province of Tunisia, Kamel Fekí, has indicated that the refusal is due to suspicions surrounding a possible “conspiracy against state security” of which the authorities accuse senior officials of the opposition coalition.

The protest had been called last week and included a march from Republic Square to Habib Bourguiba avenue, the most important in the center of the capital, according to the Tunisian state news agency, TAP.

Over the past few days, three senior National Salvation Front officials — Chaima Isa, Rida Belhaj and Yauar Ben Mbarek — have been arrested in connection with a “conspiracy” case, branded as politically motivated by the opposition.

Within the framework of this wave of arrests, Habib Eluze, a senior official of the Ennahda Islamist party, was arrested on Thursday afternoon, as denounced by his lawyer Samir Dilu, who has indicated that the reasons for the arrest have not been clarified.

“I don’t think he was arrested in the framework of a plot against the State,” he stated after the arrest, which was carried out by the special brigade of the El Gorjani Judicial Police following a request from the Prosecutor’s Office.

The leader of the National Salvation Front, Ahmed Neyib Chebi, announced on Monday the creation of a network to defend “political prisoners” and revealed that a media campaign will be launched to “generate national and international awareness about the arrests and the situation of the detainees”.

The opposition, mostly united around the National Salvation Front, which includes Ennahda -which had a majority in the suspended Parliament in July 2021-, has demanded his resignation, especially after his call for a boycott in the December and January legislatures, it will result in a participation rate close to ten percent.