Human rights observers and civil society groups warn that Tunisia is sliding toward authoritarian rule as authorities intensify legal pressure on journalists, opposition figures and non-governmental organizations.
This week, Tunisian courts upheld sentences against two prominent journalists accused of financial crimes. Media rights groups called the rulings “judicial harassment,” saying the charges lacked credible evidence and were aimed at silencing critical reporting.
Amnesty International has been raising the alarm about a widening crackdown on NGOs. Groups working on human rights, migrant protection, election observation and anti-corruption are among the most affected, the organization says. “Dozens of NGOs run the risk of being dissolved, while others are being prosecuted,” Amnesty campaigner Safia Rayan told reporters, adding that pressure on civil society and independent media is intensifying and threatens their survival.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has urged Tunisian authorities to stop criminalizing human rights activists and to end repression of opposition members and civil society. Concern has also focused on Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of the moderate Ennahda party, who is now one of the country’s most prominent prisoners; Reuters reports his various convictions amount to around 50 years behind bars.
President Kais Saied, elected in 2019, has steadily consolidated power since 2021. His actions include sidelining parliament and reshaping the judiciary, while critics and political opponents have faced prosecution. The Democratic Erosion Consortium describes Saied’s approach as “stealth authoritarianism,” saying democratic institutions have been eroded to leave only a “facade of a democracy.”
In April 2025 a Tunis court handed prison terms ranging from four to 66 years to 37 opposition members and human rights defenders. Amnesty called many of the charges unfounded; most of the convictions were later upheld on appeal. At the same time, Amnesty noted that public mobilization has occasionally secured the release of arbitrarily detained people, but said the overall trend remains one of shrinking rights and rule-of-law protections.
Journalists have also been targeted. Zied El Heni, a critic of Tunisia’s justice system, was sentenced to one year in prison after public criticism. Analysts say legal instruments are increasingly used to silence dissent: courts and administrative bodies pursue financial, regulatory or procedural grounds to suspend organizations or punish individuals when criticism becomes inconvenient.
Press freedom has declined dramatically. Reporters Without Borders ranks Tunisia 137th out of 180 countries for press freedom, a sharp fall from the post-2011 hope that the country would be a democratic model in the region.
Observers debate whether the repression is always centrally coordinated or sometimes the product of arbitrary state action. Manuel Gath, head of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Tunis office, warned against assuming every suspension is a carefully targeted strategy; some measures may stem from hasty or bureaucratic decisions. Still, he and others say financial and administrative rules are frequently instrumentalized against civil society.
Migrant and refugee groups have come under particular pressure. Five members of the Tunisian Council for Refugees face trial accused of facilitating illegal migration despite cooperating with the UN refugee agency. Human Rights Watch and other monitors say civil society work is increasingly criminalized.
Even former supporters of Saied have been punished: lawmaker Ahmed Saidani received an eight-month sentence this year after posting satire about the president, illustrating how low the tolerance for criticism has become.
Analysts point to persistent economic woes—unemployment, inflation and slow growth—as a reason Saied retains domestic support. The Atlantic Council and other think tanks note that, despite the deteriorating political situation, many Tunisians view Saied as preferable to a divided political elite. Still, experts warn that targeting civil society to “buy time” does not address mounting debt and structural economic problems and may make recovery harder.
Maria Josua of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies said the crackdown highlights the weakness of Saied’s political base: the government no longer appears able to win broad backing through policy or economic performance and instead reacts by repressing dissent. She urged European countries, even where migration cooperation is a priority, to keep pressing Tunisia to respect democratic principles, the rule of law and human rights.
This article was translated from German.