TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian police on Monday detained a radio station head and a senior opposition official, part of a wave of arrests targeting prominent politicians and other figures as critics of the president accuse him of seeking to quell dissent.
Police raided the house of Noureddine Bhiri, a senior official in the biggest opposition party Ennahda and a prominent critic of President Kais Saied, and took him away, his lawyer Samir Dilou said by phone.
Authorities also raided the house of Mosaique FM head Noureddine Boutar, whose radio station has frequently broadcast criticism of Saied, and arrested him after searching his home, his lawyer Dalila Ben Mbarek said by phone.
Police also detained political activist and lawyer Lazhar Akremi, lawyers and opposition activists said.
Since Saturday, police have detained numerous figures that have voiced opposition to Saied or sought to mobilise protests against him.
They included a prominent business leader with close ties across the political spectrum, a former finance minister, another former senior Ennahda official, two judges and a former diplomat.
Neither the police, Interior Ministry or prime minister’s office have publicly commented on the arrests or responded to requests for comment on the issue.
Saied suddenly shut down parliament, dismissed the government and moved to rule by decree in July 2021 before rewriting the constitution in moves his critics called a coup that pulled apart the democracy built after a 2011 revolution.
Saied has denied a coup, saying his moves were legal and necessary to save Tunisia from chaos.
Although some politicians had faced arrest since Saied’s seizure of broad powers, there had not been a major campaign of arrests or crackdown on dissent.
Bhiri had been held for two months last year, accused of helping Islamist militants travel to Syria during the Islamic State crisis last decade, charges he and Ennahda denied.
”The police stormed Noureddine Bhiri’s house, assaulted his wife, and arrested him,”, Dilou told Reuters on Monday without giving any further details.
While state television has largely stopped broadcasting interviews with critics of the president, other media including Mosaique FM have continued to feature Saied’s opponents.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by David Gregorio)
