(UGTT), the regional offices of the Tunisian General Labour Union arranged protests in several governorates against the arrests and intimidation of trade unionists, rising prices, unemployment and the disruption of development projects.

In recent weeks police have detained a number of leading figures with links to the opposition or to critics of President Kais Saied, including prominent politicians, two judges, the head of Tunisia’s main independent news outlet and a senior UGTT official.

The coordinated arrests have raised fears of a wider crackdown on dissent and prompted the U.N. Human Rights Office to call for their immediate release.

Since Saied shut down parliament 18 months ago, moving to rule by decree before rewriting the constitution, security forces had moved only sporadically against opponents who accuse him of an undemocratic coup.

Aljazeera.