Tunisia powerful union rejects "arbitrary arrests", prepares for protests

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's powerful UGTT labour union condemned on Wednesday what it described as arbitrary arrest campaigns by the authorities, and renewed calls to its supporters to mobilise before planned protests against President Kais Saied's policies.

In recent days police have detained a number of leading figures with links to the opposition or to critics of 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.

Reuters was able to confirm the arrests of eight people with their lawyers and relatives. The Interior Ministry declined to comment on the arrests.

The lawyer representing influential businessman Kamel Ltaif and politician Khyam Turki said they were arrested on suspicion of conspiring against state security, but that their arrest case file contained no evidence.

In his first comments after the arrests, President Saied accused "traitors" of being responsible for price increases and food shortages and wanted to fuel a social crisis.

Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar said on Tuesday that the arrests were not political but related to Tunisia's national security.

Since Saied shut down parliament 18 months ago, moving torule by decree before rewriting the constitution, securityforces had moved only sporadically against opponents who accusehim of an undemocratic coup.

The UGTT, which has more than a million members, said in a statement on Wednesday that the government was trying to stifle freedoms of expression "in order to distract public opinion from its real problems, including problems of living, and to cover up the failure of government policies".

Last month, police arrested an official in UGTT union over a strike by toll booth workers. Several other transport senior officials in the union were placed under police investigation this week, including in relation to another strike last month.

The arrest and investigations could aggravate tensions between Saied and the union, which has taken an increasingly strong stance against his expansion of powers, introduction of a new political system and proposals for economic reforms.

In its statement the UGTT called on its members to prepare "to defend the right of Tunisians, refusing to target the right to strike, and public and individual freedoms, with all legitimate forms of struggle."

UGTT officials said they were planning protests in several cities during this month starting with a rally on Saturday in Sfax city.

Saied, who shut down parliament in 2021, seizing most powers and moving to rule by decree before writing a new constitution, has ignored repeated UGTT demands for a national dialogue to resolve Tunisia's internal political disputes.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)