Tunisia prosecutors block planned release of opposition figure

Tunisia's state prosecutor on Friday appealed against a judge's decision to release opposition figure Chaima Issa four months after she was detained for "plotting" against the state, her lawyers said.

Issa would have walked free following a decision taken by a judge from the counterterrorism court but the prosecution blocked the planned release by appealing against it, the defence team said.

A member of Tunisia's main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front (NSF), Issa was arrested along with some 20 other opposition, media and business figures in February.

They were detained in connection with an investigation into claims of "plotting against state security" and branded as "terrorists" by President Kais Saied.

The president froze parliament and sacked the government in a dramatic July 2021 move against the sole democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.

His critics have dubbed the move a "coup" while human rights groups condemned a "witch hunt" aimed at "repressing" freedom of opinion in the North African country.