Tunisian police have arrested opponent Jawhar Ben Mbarek, one of President Kaïs Saïed's most virulent critics, the latest arrest since the crackdown launched in political circles in early February, his family said on Friday (February 24th).
Jawhar Ben Mbarek, 55, "
was arrested late at night and we have not yet had access to the arrest file,
" his sister, lawyer Dalila Msaddek, told AFP.
The police had held Thursday, February 23 for a few hours the father of Jawhar Ben Mbarek, Ezzeddine Hezgui, also an opponent.
"Citizens Against the Coup"
Leader of the " Citizens Against the Coup
" movement
, Jawhar Ben Mbarek, is also one of the main leaders of the National Salvation Front (FSN), the main opposition coalition that emerged after Kais Said assumed full powers in Tunisia, shaking the young democracy that emerged from the first revolt of the Arab Spring in 2011.
Read alsoTunisia: the keys to understanding Kaïs Saïed, melted in power
Figure of the Tunisian left, Jawhar Ben Mbarek is a specialist in constitutional law and former adviser to the presidency of the government.
Around 20 political, media and business figures have been arrested in Tunisia since early February in a campaign described by Amnesty International as a “politically
motivated witch hunt
”.
Kaïs Saïed described those arrested as "
terrorists
" and claimed that they were involved in a "
conspiracy against state security
".
