A wave of arrests by Tunisian security forces has sparked fears that President Kais Saied is resorting to tougher measures against his opponents in the crisis-hit birthplace of the 2011 Arab uprisings.
The latest arrests, including senior figures in the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, come a year and a half after Saied sacked the government, froze parliament and seized far-reaching powers in what his rivals have described as a coup.
While a number of Saied’s opponents have since been questioned or placed on trial in military courts, the arrests since Saturday of the head of the country’s most popular radio station and a prominent businessman, along with several other public figures, appear to mark an escalation.