Tunisian lawyers call for strike over arrest of their colleague amid crackdown on dissent

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Hooded police raided Tunisia’s bar association headquarters and arrested a lawyer as authorities escalated a broad government crackdown that has ensnared political dissidents, non-governmental organizations and Black migrants.

Sonia Dahmani, a prominent critic of the government, was arrested Saturday after making sarcastic remarks about Tunisia on a local television program last week and charged with distributing false information and disrupting public order.

She’s the latest dissident to be charged under the country’s controversial Decree 54, an anti-fake news law that the government has used to pursue critics of President Kais Saied.

The Tunisian Lawyers Council called on Sunday for a nationwide general strike to be held by all lawyers.

Dahmani’s advocates had gathered at the bar association Saturday to protest a warrant for her arrest when police stormed the building. French television reporters broadcast the event live on air.