The images of the arrest by hooded men of lawyer Sonia Dahmani on Saturday evening in Tunis shocked. Also a columnist in Tunisian media, this lawyer is known to Tunisians for her use of humor, satire and sarcasm when it comes to criticizing the regime of current President Kaïs Saïed. It is in this tense context that a demonstration was held this morning in Tunis.
3 mins
The demonstration had been planned for a long time. It was organized by the National Salvation Front which brings together personalities opposed to Kaïs Saïed. The spectrum ranges from the left to the Islamists of Ennahdha. Initially, they had planned to demonstrate this Sunday to demand that a date be set for the next presidential election while the mandate of President Saïed must end in October, reports our correspondent in Tunis, Amira Souilem. The demonstrators demand an electoral calendar and the end of the “ Rebellion ” of Kaïs Saïed.
Read alsoTunisia: journalist critical of President Saied placed in police custody
But the gathering took a different turn in view of the latest events in Tunisia, in particular, the spectacular arrest yesterday by hooded men of lawyer Sonia Dahmani. His Tunisian colleagues gathered immediately to express their solidarity and share their concerns as arrests and pre-trial detentions increase in Tunisia. For them, she was the subject of a kidnapping.
The scene happened before their eyes. Gathered at the headquarters of their order, at the House of Lawyers on Saturday evening, with their colleague Sonia Dahmani, the lawyers could do nothing to prevent hooded men from taking her with them.
Read alsoTunisia: muscular arrest of lawyer Sonia Dahmani live on France 24
A ” kidnapping »
Sonia Dahmani, everyone knows her and her derision when it comes to criticizing the current power to which she frequently opposes on TV and radio sets but no one could have imagined that she would be arrested in this way.
“ It’s a kidnapping – yes, I consider what happened to be a kidnapping of Sonia Dahmani! At this time, we don’t know where she was taken. Other lawyers were molested and one of the lawyers was injured and transferred to hospital “.
Faced with the brutality of the method and now worried for their own freedom, Tunisian lawyers have announced that they will go on strike tomorrow, Monday.
“ The situation is serious, very serious. »
“ This is the first time, in the history of Tunisian lawyers, that people enter the House of Lawyers in this way. This is unheard of. This evening, it was the bar association but tomorrow it could be any other professional representation. We can’t be silent! » says the lawyer to his colleagues.
Saturday evening, there were also two other arrests of media figures: Mourad Zeghidi and Borhen Bssaïes who were also questioned by the police and placed in pre-trial detention. Developments which make Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, a major figure of the left in Tunisia, say that the Tunisian regime is multiplying errors and risks, if it continues this policy of repression, reinforcing protest.