Chaima
Picnews
On 29 November 2025, Tunisian police detained the well‑known opposition figure Chaima Issa during a protest in the capital, Tunis, to begin serving a 20‑year prison term that an appeals court had imposed the previous day.
The sentence was part of a broader set of rulings in which an appeals court handed down jail terms of up to 45 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiracy to overthrow President Kais Saied.
Just moments before her arrest, Issa told Reuters she expected to be taken and urged Tunisians to keep protesting, saying, “We are sacrificing our freedom for you.
Rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have described the trial as a politically motivated crackdown, noting that the judiciary has been under the president’s control since he seized extraordinary powers in 2021
Authorities anticipate further arrests, including that of Najib Chebbi, head of the National Salvation Front, who received a 12‑year sentence, and Ayachi Hammami, sentenced to five years; in total, about 40 people were charged, with some tried in absentia.
The incident has sparked demonstrations organized by women’s rights groups and drawn criticism from the European Union and international NGOs, underscoring the deepening tension between Saied’s government and the opposition.
