On January 20, a Facebook video posted on Tunisian President Kais Saied’s page showed him ina meeting with Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine. Saied talked about the country's ongoing political crisis and said that his administration is trying to uphold the law.
Saied vowed to hold “traitors” accountable for an “attack” on Tunisia, especially those who he claimed had sold out to foreign intelligence.
“Freedoms in Tunisia are guaranteed today more than [at] any other time,” Saied said.
That is false.
Tunisia has been in since July 2021, when Saied suspended the parliament, rescinded its members' immunity from prosecution, arrested officials, removed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and took over the office of public prosecution.
Saied announced in September 2021 that , allowing him to appoint parliament members and push political reforms that were crafted under the supervision of a committee appointed by him.
, which called Saied’s coup an “authoritarian turn,” denounced his plan.
“Kaïs Saïed can now legislate by decree-law to change laws on the organization of political parties, associations and their financing, on the press and information, on justice, on freedoms and human rights, and even on the Code on Personal Status, which regulates family law in Tunisia. The list is mind-boggling,” Amnesty said.
On January 14, just days before Saied’s Facebook post, , including water cannons, to disperse more than 1,000 people who had gathered in the capital Tunis to protest the president’s moves. A man reportedly died of the injuries suffered at the hands of police.
Security forces covering the protests. Several reporters said they were assaulted by the police, who seized their equipment and phones. The (SNJT) said it registered 20 cases of journalists attacked by the police, including that of Mathieu Galtier, a reporter for the French newspaper Liberation.
Likewise, Amira Al Jabali, a reporter for the Tunisian newspaper , was rushed to the hospital after inhaling tear gas. The newspaper said the police examined her phone, including private messages and photos she took at the protests.
On January 18, 21 human rights groups protested the police’s heavy-handed police actions against protesters and journalists.
Yassine Jelassi, the head of the journalists' syndicate, said that were in “imminent peril.”
“A police and security mentality is running the state,” Jelassi said. “Tunisia has become a country which suppresses freedoms.”
On January 19, Saied issued a new decree curbing the budget , a constitutional body monitoring the functioning and independence of the courts.
Members of Tunisia’s opposition called Saied’s decree and consolidate power over all institutions in the country.
, a member of the Islamist Ennahda party, which had the most seats in Tunisia’s parliament, wrote on his Facebook page:
“This means only one thing: Dissolving the judicial council and preventing it from exercising its duties, simply freezing the council. The coup authority [President Saied] is controlling all powers, legislature, executive and judiciary, as Tunisia enters the phase of totalitarianism.”
Saied has targeted the country’s judiciary, which he In December 2021, the (ICJ), a nongovernmental organization defending human rights and the rule of law worldwide, spoke in defense of Tunisia’s judiciary.
“Attacks and intimidation attempts against the judiciary – currently the last remaining line of defence against the President’s power grab – come at a time when the concentration of powers in Saied’s hands has already profoundly undermined its authority,” ICJ said.
On January 18, Saied that the country has been in since 2015 another month. Tunisia declared a state of emergency following a in 2015 that killed 38 foreigners.
Many Tunisians consider the state of emergency unconstitutional. , prior to becoming president, that the state of emergency was “unconstitutional” and could only be imposed after the president consulted with the parties in the government.
Saied's power grab came after demanding a government change following years of corruption and declining economy.
In December 2021, (HRW) said Tunisian authorities were prosecuting civilians merely for criticizing Saied or the army. HRW cited five recent cases, including TV host Amer Ayed and MP Abdelatif Aloui, who were taken from their homes.
“Using repressive laws enacted prior to the Tunisian revolution, prosecutors are going after those who criticize Saied and who label as a ‘coup’ his seizure of exceptional powers beginning on July 25, 2021,” HRW said.