Tunisia protest marks 2 years since president's power grab

Tunis [Tunisia], July 26: About 300 protesters have rallied in Tunis to mark the second anniversary of President Kais Saied's adoption of sweeping powers and to demand the release of 20 detained opposition figures.
"Down with the coup. Freedom for all the prisoners," the protesters chanted as they gathered in the heart of the capital on Tuesday, braving temperatures that topped 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in response to a call by the main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front. Saied dissolved the democratically elected parliament on July 25, 2021 and has since seized more powers, changing the country's constitution in the process. His opponents decry his moves as a "coup".
The opposition has kept up its protests against Saied despite the arrest in February of more than 20 opposition, media and business figures on charges of "conspiracy against state security".
A judge ordered the release of writer ChaimaIssa and former minister LazharAkremi this month, but the others remain in custody despite the appeals of human rights groups.
RachedGhannouchi, the leader of what had been the largest bloc in parliament, the Muslim democratic Ennahdha party, is also in custody, serving a one-year prison sentence on "terrorism-related" charges after his April 17 arrest. His daughter, Yusra, has called the charges "politically motivated and fabricated".
Rights groups have condemned a "witch-hunt" aimed at "repressing" freedom of opinion in the North African country, which had been the sole democracy to emerge
from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.
"Decree by decree, blow by blow, President Saied and his government have dramatically undermined respect for human rights in Tunisia since his power grab in July 2021,"
Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director, HebaMorayef, said in a statement.
Source: Qatar Tribune