Kais Saied Uses State Terrorism Against Freely Elected MPs

Last week, dozens of Tunisian MPs including the Parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi have been summoned by Tunisia’s anti-terrorism unit.

These politically motivated investigations against freely elected MPs amount to judicial harassment and came as an attempt to restrict the peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association by members of Parliament, which was initially suspended and then dissolved by President Kais Saied.

The investigations are the latest in a series of deeply disturbing repressive actions by the Tunisian authorities that must be stopped immediately.

On March 30, Saied dissolved the suspended parliament, hours after lawmakers held a plenary session to revoke his measures taken on July 25, 2021.

Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis since July 25 when Saied dismissed the government, suspended parliament, and assumed executive authority, in a move decried by opponents as a “coup.”

We urge the Tunisian authorities to end the political persecution of dozens of MPs and respect their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.