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The United States denounced Thursday, March 2 “climbing” in Tunisia in the grip of a wave of arrests of opponents and were concerned about reports of criminal proceedings initiated against people who had contact with the American embassy in Tunis.
“We are concerned about reports that criminal charges have been brought against individuals in Tunisia, apparently resulting from their meetings or conversations with members of the United States Embassy”said US State Department spokesman Ned Price. “This is part of an escalation in the arrests of people perceived to be critical of the government as I have said before.” Tunisian, he added to the press. He refused to identify the persons concerned or to detail the circumstances surrounding these contacts, but justified them by emphasizing that “all our embassies, and our diplomats around the world” meet various personalities in all countries.
On Tuesday, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had called in a press release on the foreign embassies in the country to “not to interfere in its internal affairs”, following reports of meetings the recently arrested personalities allegedly had with Western diplomats. Twenty personalities have been arrested in Tunisia since the beginning of February during a dragnet denounced by the opposition as an attempt to muzzle it, on the orders of President Kaïs Saïed, who has concentrated all the powers since July 2021.