Monday, October 13, 2025
  • Who’sWho Africa AWARDS
  • About TimeAfrica Magazine
  • Contact Us
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • Magazine
  • World News

Home » Special Report » Lawyers in Tunisia protest against govt’s intimidation and harassment

Lawyers in Tunisia protest against govt’s intimidation and harassment

Arrests of lawyers have sparked condemnations by Tunisia’s civil society and have sparked an international backlash

May 17, 2024
in Special Report
0
540
SHARES
4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Lawyers in Tunisia took to the streets on Thursday, May 16 to protest a string of recent arrests that have convulsed the country over the past week and provoked international outcry.

The demonstration in the North African country’s capital came days after two lawyers were arrested — one brusquely extracted from the bar association headquarters and the other needing to be hospitalized after sustaining injuries while being apprehended by security forces.

Both were charged with violating a cybercrime statute outlawing fake news that authorities have increasingly used to target critics.

The National Bar Association called for nationwide strikes on Monday and staged a “day of anger” on Thursday that included protests and a second day of striking.

Along with activists and civil society groups, they gathered in front of the capital’s courthouse chanting for freedom, in support of their colleagues and against what they called “a police state.”

ReadAlso

Man sentenced to death for Facebook posts about president

Tunisia sentences prominent opposition leader to 14 years in prison

“We demand an apology from the authorities for the enormous blunders committed,” Bar Association President Hatem Mziou said, referring to the two arrests.

“We are fighting for a democratic climate and respect for freedoms,” Mziou added, threatening further action if authorities do not change course.

ADVERTISEMENT

Protests about civil rights have been routine since President Kais Saied froze Tunisia’s parliament, consolidated his own power and fired top ministers in July 2021. But the speed and number of arrests this week — of the lawyers as well as journalists and prominent activists — have marked a new phase in his crackdown against dissidents.

The Bar Association said in a statement that Mehdi Zaghrouba, one of the lawyers arrested, was tortured and lost consciousness after being apprehended, leaving visible injuries throughout his body.

The government denied Zaghrouba had been tortured and said that the arrest had been carried out legally and without issue.

“Claiming torture is a way of evading justice” Interior Ministry spokesperson Faker Bouzghaya told IFM radio, a station where a journalist was also arrested this week.

Also the United Nations on Friday denounced arrests of lawyers in Tunisia, saying the detentions, which have also included journalists and political commentators, undermined the rule of law in the North Africa country.

“Reported raids in the past week on the Tunisia Bar Association undermine the rule of law and violate international standards on the protection of the independence and function of lawyers,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters in Geneva.

“Such actions constitute forms of intimidation and harassment.”

The arrests have sparked condemnations by Tunisia’s civil society and have sparked an international backlash, which Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has slammed as foreign “interference.”

Civil society in the North African country condemned the arrests as a crackdown on dissent in the country that saw the onset of the Arab Spring.

The European Union expressed concern this week over the arrests, while the United States said they contradicted the universal rights guaranteed by the country’s constitution.

Saied, who seized sweeping powers in 2021, on Thursday ordered the foreign ministry to summon ambassadors of several countries and inform them that “Tunisia is an independent state,” in a video released by his office.

Tags: LawyersTunisia
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Brazil wins bid to host 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Next Post

Chad’s Military Ruler Is Announced as Winner of Disputed Election

You MayAlso Like

A protester reacts while running past a burning tyre used as a barricade during clashes with Malagasy security forces amid a strike calling for constitutional reforms and the resignation of President Andry Rajoelina in Antananarivo. [Luis Tato/AFP]
Featured

Madagascar in Turmoil: Unpacking Root Causes Behind Violent Antigovernment Protests

October 12, 2025
Special Report

The Woman Who Wants to End Cameroon’s Paul Biya 43-Year Rule

October 11, 2025
A drug addict in Pretoria, South Africa, in March.Credit...Themba Hadebe/Associated Press
Special Report

Addicts Are Now Injecting Blood to Get High — Yes, Blood

October 10, 2025
Special Report

Faked or Factual: UNN Contradictory Claims on Minister Uche Nnaji Certificate Raise Questions of Credibility

October 5, 2025
Special Report

Certificate Scandal: University of Nigeria Declares Minister Uche Nnaji Never Graduated

October 4, 2025
Special Report

World leaders step up efforts behind the scenes at the UN to end the war in Sudan

September 27, 2025
Next Post
President Mahamat Idriss Déby of Chad at a campaign rally in Ndjamena, the capital, last week.Credit...Issouf Sanogo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Chad’s Military Ruler Is Announced as Winner of Disputed Election

Tears Flow as Nollywood Star Junior Pope is buried

Discussion about this post

Kingdom in Crisis: Ogwashi-Uku Rejects Obi’s Land Grab, Villages Ready to Declare Autonomy

Nigeria’s Anglican Church Rescinds Ties with Canterbury Amid Controversy Over ‘Pro-Gay’ Female Archbishop

Uche Nnaji, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology Resigns

APC Dissolves Enugu Executive, Appoints Caretaker Committee Ahead of Governor Mbah’s Anticipated Defection

Uche Nnaji Finally Breaks Silence on Certificate Forgery

Addicts Are Now Injecting Blood to Get High — Yes, Blood

  • British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

    1242 shares
    Share 497 Tweet 311
  • Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

    1067 shares
    Share 427 Tweet 267
  • Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

    974 shares
    Share 390 Tweet 244
  • ‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

    905 shares
    Share 362 Tweet 226
  • Crisis echoes, fears grow in Amechi Awkunanaw in Enugu State

    736 shares
    Share 294 Tweet 184
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

April 13, 2023

Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

December 27, 2022
Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

September 22, 2023
‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

March 21, 2023
Chief Mrs Ebelechukwu, wife of Willie Obiano, former governor of Anambra state

NIGERIA: No, wife of Biafran warlord, Bianca Ojukwu lied – Ebele Obiano:

0

SOUTH AFRICA: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE?

0
kelechi iheanacho

TOP SCORER: IHEANACHA

0
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

WHAT CAN’TBE TAKEN AWAY FROM JONATHAN

0
A protester reacts while running past a burning tyre used as a barricade during clashes with Malagasy security forces amid a strike calling for constitutional reforms and the resignation of President Andry Rajoelina in Antananarivo. [Luis Tato/AFP]

Madagascar in Turmoil: Unpacking Root Causes Behind Violent Antigovernment Protests

October 12, 2025

These are the early signs and symptoms of womb cancer you need to look out for

October 12, 2025
Image credit: Africa Studio

Almost all heart attack victims have one of these four warning signs

October 12, 2025

AfDB, WFP and IFPRI launch innovative investment in food systems in Northern Nigeria

October 11, 2025

ABOUT US

Time Africa Magazine

TIMEAFRICA MAGAZINE is an African Magazine with a culture of excellence; a magazine without peer. Nearly a third of its readers hold advanced degrees and include novelists, … READ MORE >>

SECTIONS

  • Aviation
  • Column
  • Crime
  • Europe
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Health
  • Interviews
  • Israel-Hamas
  • Lifestyle
  • Magazine
  • Middle-East
  • News
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Russia-Ukraine
  • Science
  • Special Report
  • Sports
  • TV/Radio
  • UAE
  • UK
  • US
  • World News

Useful Links

  • AllAfrica
  • Channel Africa
  • El Khabar
  • The Guardian
  • Cairo Live
  • Le Republicain
  • Magazine: 9771144975608
  • Subscribe to TIMEAFRICA MAGAZINE biweekly news magazine

    Enjoy handpicked stories from around African continent,
    delivered anywhere in the world

    Subscribe

    • About TimeAfrica Magazine
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS

    © 2025 TimeAfrica Magazine - All Right Reserved. TimeAfrica Magazine Ltd is published by Times Associates, registered Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
    • Politics
    • Column
    • Interviews
    • Gallery
    • Lifestyle
    • Special Report
    • Sports
    • TV/Radio
    • Aviation
    • Health
    • Science
    • World News

    © 2025 TimeAfrica Magazine - All Right Reserved. TimeAfrica Magazine Ltd is published by Times Associates, registered Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.