Tunisian police arrested prominent opposition leader Chaima Issa during a protest in Tunis on Saturday, November 29, 2025, enforcing a 20-year prison sentence handed down by an appeals court a day earlier, her lawyers confirmed.
The arrests come amid widespread condemnation of Tunisia’s escalating political crackdown under President Kais Saied, who critics accuse of dismantling democratic institutions and silencing dissent.
On Friday, an appeals court sentenced several opposition politicians, lawyers, and business figures to prison terms ranging from five to 45 years on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the government—a case rights groups have called politically motivated.
Moments before her arrest, Issa addressed protesters in the capital, urging Tunisians to remain defiant.
“They will arrest me shortly,” she told Reuters. “I say to the Tunisians, continue to protest and reject tyranny. We are sacrificing our freedom for you.”
She described the verdicts as “unjust” and an attempt to silence Tunisia’s democratic opposition.
Further Arrests Expected
Authorities are also expected to detain Najib Chebbi, leader of the National Salvation Front, Tunisia’s main opposition coalition, who received a 12-year prison sentence.
“We will not gain freedom except by unity,” Chebbi told Reuters at the protest.
Another opposition figure, Ayachi Hammami, sentenced to five years, said the crackdown would only strengthen public resistance.
“We are ready for prison, we are not afraid. I hope that the youth will expand protests until the authorities reconsider, or else be swept away by the will of the people,” he said.
Growing Crackdown on Dissent
President Saied has defended the mass prosecutions, claiming he is fighting “traitors, corrupt figures, and mercenaries,” and accusing civil society groups of accepting foreign funds to destabilize the country.
A court document seen by Reuters confirmed that 40 people were charged in the case—20 of whom were sentenced in absentia after fleeing abroad.
Rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have condemned the verdicts as an assault on Tunisia’s democratic gains since the 2011 revolution, calling for the immediate annulment of the sentences.
Since assuming sweeping powers in 2021, Saied’s government has jailed critics, shuttered independent media outlets, and suspended several NGOs, deepening fears of a return to authoritarian rule.
