Tunisia Releases Prominent Opposition Figures

A judicial source informed Reuters that the Tunis Court of Appeal announced on Thursday the release of Shaima Issa and Lazhar Al-Akrimi, two prominent opponents of President Kais Saied, after nearly five months of detention on suspicion of conspiracy against state security. The two opponents were detained in February along with about 20 other politicians in a campaign that the opposition claims aims to entrench individual rule by President Saied, who dissolved Parliament and almost entirely consolidated power in 2021 in what the opposition termed a coup. Saied describes the move as a legal and necessary step to rescue the country from chaos and rampant corruption.