Lawyers in Tunisia go on strike in protest at alleged police mistreatment

Hundreds of attorneys in Tunisia staged a one-day nationwide strike on Thursday to express their disapproval of the recent arrests of two of their colleagues, one of whom they claim was subjected to torture while in custody.

In response to the arrest of two lawyers and two journalists last week in separate events, Tunisian lawyers have gone on strike for the second time this week, marking an intensification of the political unrest in the nation.

Last week, hundreds of President Kais Saied’s detractors demonstrated, calling for a date for free and fair elections. The opposition referred to Saied’s 2021 takeover of the majority of governmental functions and dissolution of the elected parliament as a coup. Saied’s mandate ends this year.

After detaining another lawyer, Sonia Dahmani, over the weekend, Tunisian police invaded the bar association’s headquarters on Monday for the second time in two days and arrested Mahdi Zagrouba, a critic of the president.

The storming of the Deanship of Lawyers building was referred to by certain opposition groups as “a shock and major escalation”.

Human rights organizations and the bar association claimed that Zagrouba had been subjected to torture while in custody and that he had serious injuries and signs of assault.

The Interior Ministry vehemently refuted the accusations, asserting that the attorney had not been the victim of torture or other cruel treatment.

We vehemently contest any allegations that the attorney endured cruel or inhumane treatment. After it was established that he had assaulted a police officer during a protest this week, it is a plot to avoid accountability, according to ministry official Fakher Bouzghaia.

Hundreds of attorneys congregated outside the Palace of Justice’s main office, donning uniforms and yelling anti-terror and “take your hands off journalists and lawyers” among other things. The people hold the power.

The lawyers screamed, “Mahdi never mind, freedoms are redeemed with blood,” in support of their colleague Zaqrouba.

According to their families and attorneys, a judge in Tunisia on Wednesday imposed the detention of two journalists until their cases could be tried, heightening concerns about a broad drive to stifle criticism and restrict free expression.

Due to political remarks, they made on the radio, IFM radio journalists Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaiss were arrested on Saturday, according to their attorneys.