First Independent Mena Newspaper
On Wednesday September 11, Tunisian lawyer and columnist Sonia Dahmani was sentenced to eight months in prison on appeal for her critical remarks about President Kais Saied. Her lawyers denounced the verdict as “judicial harassment.” Dahmani, known for her outspoken views, was arrested on live television on May 11 by masked police officers at the […]
On Sunday, August 25, 2024, the President of Tunisia executed a significant reshuffle of his Government, appointing 22 new ministers and Secretaries of State, as announced on the Presidency’s official page. President Kaïs Saïed, who has been in office since 2019, removed 19 ministers—including those responsible for Foreign Affairs and Defense—without providing any official reasons. […]
On August 22, the Tunisian judiciary ordered the release of opposition politician Safi Saïd. Saïd, a former candidate in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections who withdrew from this year’s race, had been arrested on August 20 for “illegally crossing the border into Algeria.” The 70-year-old writer and critic of the current Tunisian president was […]
The Tunisian electoral commission has only accepted bids by three candidates, including incumbent president Kais Saied, who is accused by his opponents of using the judiciary to eliminate his political opponents using bogus charges. The electoral commission has accepted bids by Ayachi Zammel and Zouhair Magzhaoui, who are believed to be allies of Kais Saied, […]
Tunisia’s Kais Saied, who made the unsurprising announcement of his re-election bid, has been using the judiciary to ban political opponents from partaking in October 6 elections, amid worsening economic prospects and social stability. Saied made his re-election bid public the same day a court in Tunis handed an eight-month in prison sentence to leader […]
The leader of Tunisian Republican Union Party, Lotfi Mraihi, who has announced his intention to run for President in the elections of October 2024, has been arrested by police on suspicion of money laundering. Mraihi is one of the most prominent critics of President Kais Saied who is tightening his grip on power and eliminating […]
Tunisia’s Kais Saied is facing serious consequences after violating the sanctions imposed on it by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for failing to abide by the international rules for clean sport. As a result of non-compliance with WADA Code, Tunisia’s flag will not be flown at regional, continental or world championships, as well as in […]
Tunisia under Kais Saied is on the footsteps of Authoritarian Algeria. Mimicking Tebboune, Saied uses a rhetoric imbued with conspiracy theories, the threat of the foreign hand and opacity as he seeks a second term. In a speech on the anniversary of the passing away of President Bourgiba, Saied launched a diatribe on the opposition […]
As Tunisia braces for presidential elections in December 2024, a fog of repression looms over the country that was once the Arab Spring’s success story before it backpedaled to autocracy under a president intent on staying in power. President Kais Saied destroyed the democracy ladder that brought him to power starting a gradual power grab […]
Senior members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have accused the EU executive of “bankrolling dictators”, claiming that the €150 million it gave to Tunisia last year in a migration and development deal went straight to the country’s president, Kais Saied. The group of MEPs on the human rights, justice and foreign affairs committees at the […]