The European Parliament has urged the Tunisian authorities to "
immediately release
" journalist Noureddine Boutar and "
the other persons arbitrarily detained
", denouncing the "authoritarian drift of President Saied".
In a resolution adopted this Thursday by a very large majority, the European Parliament says it is "
deeply concerned by the authoritarian drift of President Saied and by his instrumentalization of the disastrous socio-economic situation in Tunisia to reverse the country's historic democratic transition"
. .
MEPs call for an “
end to the ongoing repression against civil society
”.
They urge EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and member states to publicly denounce the serious deterioration of the human rights situation in Tunisia and call for the suspension of specific EU support programs to justice ministries and Home Affairs.
Wave of arrests
At the beginning of February, the authorities launched a raid against personalities including several former ministers, well-known businessmen like Kamel Eltaïef, and the director of Radio Mosaïque, the most listened to in Tunisia, Noureddine Boutar.
The president called them "
terrorists
", accusing them of "
conspiring against state security
".
This wave of arrests, unprecedented since the coup by President Saied who has granted himself all powers since July 25, 2021, has been described by Amnesty International as a “politically motivated
witch hunt
”.
In its resolution, the European Parliament also strongly condemns "
President Saied's racist discourse against sub-Saharan migrants and the attacks that followed
".
On February 21, Mr. Saied claimed that the presence of "
hordes
" of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa was a source of "
violence and crime
" and was part of a "
criminal enterprise
" aimed at "
changing the demographic composition
" from the country.
As a result of these remarks, many immigrants were attacked and hundreds of them asked their embassies to be repatriated to their country.