Tunisia protesters demand freedom for jailed opposition

TUNIS: Hundreds of Tunisians took to the streets of the capital on Thursday to mark Labour Day, to protest against President Kais Saied and to demand the release of jailed political figures.

The rally, attended by members of different political factions, was called by Tunisia´s powerful UGTT trade union confederation and relatives of detained opposition figures. “We´re not happy with what´s happening,” activist Souhaieb Ferchichi said. “People keep advocating for their rights despite an atmosphere of fear and repression.”

“This regime is failing,” he added. “It sells us slogans while not respecting the constitution and the law.” Demonstrators on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, Tunis´s main thoroughfare and a popular protest spot, carried a banner reading: “Injustice is the beginning of the end.”

“The revolution will come,” they chanted, with some carrying signs calling the president a “tyrant”. “The country is in a state of shutdown, a state of silencing voices and jailing young people over a social media post,” UGTT chief Noureddine Taboubi said in a statement that denounced a “clampdown on freedoms”.