Tunisian Islamist leader arrested in crackdown on opposition

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Lawyers say Tunisian authorities have arrested the leader of the Ennahda opposition Islamist movement in a crackdown on rival politicians and critics of the North African country’s increasingly authoritarian president Kais Saied. Attorneys said Tuesday lawyer Lazhar Akremi and Noureddine Bouttar, the director general of independent radio station Mosaïque, were detained overnight Monday. The crackdown targeting Tunisian opposition figures, the president’s critics and opponents in the media, judiciary and the business community began over the weekend. It comes after a disastrous parliamentary election last month, organized by Saied to replace a legislature he had dissolved in 2021. Only 11% of voters cast their ballots.