Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Support the prisoners, stop the repression in Tunisia


Tuesday 30 December 2025, by Édouard Soulier


Fifteen years after the start of the Tunisian revolution, the authoritarian regime established by Kais Saied is increasing arrests, unfair trials and repression against all civil society. In the face of this offensive, international solidarity is more necessary than ever.


The Tunisian revolution which began 15 years ago put an end to the brutal regime of dictator Ben Ali after nearly 23 years rule. The process of transforming society that began at that time has been gradually called into question, then brutally interrupted over the past four years by the current president, Kaïs Saïed. Elected “by default” in 2019, a candidate deemed harmless and opposed to an increasingly corrupt establishment and political parties, he took advantage of the discredit of almost the entire political class during the post-revolutionary decade. This explains why the July 2021 coup d’état enjoyed some popular support. Under the pretext of Islamist, Zionist and migratory threats, Kaïs Saïed has taken control of all the machinery of power in a few months.

A regime based on repression

Kais Saied’s regime was installed against a backdrop of paranoia and the fight against corruption but also the stigmatization of immigrants, under the guise of fighting against “foreign influences” and even, without shame, against “imperialism.” At the same time, however, Kaïs Saïed has agreed, in order to replenish the state’s coffers, to become Europe’s auxiliary in the repression of migrant crossings. He constantly points to an internal enemy, demonizing his opponents, civil society or judges, in order to justify food shortages, power cuts and all the difficulties of daily life.

Since 2021, Kaïs Saïed has massively used preventive detention, without trial, as well as a law on “fake news”, allowing the arrest of any opponent. Another lever is the charges of undermining state security and terrorism, sometimes punishable by death. After attacking his main political opponents in 2023, Kais Saied has gradually extended the repression to the entire civil society.

Political trials

In early December, the appeals against sentence of the so-called “conspiracy against the security of the state” media trial against journalists, lawyers, political opponents, human rights defenders, senior civil servants and ordinary citizens were handed down. In April, in the first instance, delirious prison sentences, of up to 66 years, were delivered at the end of a procedure marked by serious violations of the rights of the defence. The Tunis Court of Appeal finally upheld sentences ranging from 2 to 45 years in prison.

The contours of the “conspiracy” remained extremely vague, the evidence non-existent and, above all, the defendants were prevented from defending themselves. Most of the "evidence" is based on simple meetings with European representatives and diplomats, presented as evidence of international collusion. It should be noted that, among the defendants, Bernard-Henri Lévy (!) was sentenced to 33 years in prison on the basis of clearly anti-Semitic charges. This anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, in which anti-Zionism is instrumentalized, is also tinged with negrophobic racism, against a backdrop of the fantasy of the “great replacement.” In an attempt to show that he still enjoys popular support, Saïed organised a demonstration of support in Tunis at the end of December of about a thousand people, a low figure despite the support of the police and the use of state resources.

Resistance that persists

Despite the repression, resistance continues to be organized: campaigns in support of the prisoners multiply and continue to march every month in Tunis. The anti-pollution movement in Gabès is also continuing. The economic conditions, combined with the delirious repression imposed by the government, have profoundly weakened political and social organizations. Fifteen years of revolution have not been erased in this way and the resistance remains strong, but it is essential to massively support Tunisian activists, imprisoned or not, and to demonstrate that Saied’s pseudo-anti-imperialism only serves to strengthen a police state at the service, precisely, of imperialism.

24 December 2025

Translated by International Viewpoint from l’Anticapitaliste.

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