The Tunisian police used water cannon, sticks, and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters trying to reach central Tunis to demonstrate against the president in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions. Opposition parties have been protesting against the suspension of parliament by President Kais Saied, his assumption of executive power, and moves to rewrite the constitution, which they call a coup. “It’s the most violent intervention by security forces we’ve seen in the past year, both in terms of the methods used and the number of arrests,” said Fathi Jarai, president of the independent anti-torture body INPT.
Ennahdha, the party with the largest number of seats in Tunisia’s suspended parliament, and other parties taking part in the protest accused the government of introducing the ban and resuming its night curfew for political rather than health reasons as a way of preventing protests. Prominent human rights activist Sihem Bensedrine, who headed the now-defunct Truth and Dignity Commission, accused authorities of taking away Tunisians’ right to protest and threatening the country’s “hard-won freedom.”
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