Tunisia arrests prominent opposition figure

TUNIS, Tunisia

Tunisian security forces arrested Ghazi Chaouachi, a prominent opposition figure and former Secretary-General of the Democratic Current Party, in the latest arrests of critics in the North African country, according to his son.

“Around 20 policemen raided and searched the house and arrested my father,” Elias Chaouachi said on his Facebook page.

Chaouachi is a prominent critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied.

There was no comment from the Tunisian authorities on the arrest.

On Thursday, Chaouachi criticized the mass arrests of critics of Saied by Tunisian authorities.

“Recent arrests of activists and politicians are a random campaign against all opponents of Saied on charges of conspiracy against the state,” he said.

Several politicians, media professionals, activists, judges and businessmen were arrested by Tunisian security forces in recent days.

Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis that aggravated the country's economy since 2021, when Saied ousted the government and dissolved parliament.

Since then, Saied held a referendum to draft a new Constitution last July and parliamentary elections last December.

While Saied insists that his measures were meant to "save" the country, critics have accused the Tunisian leader of orchestrating a coup.

* Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report