UK urged to help free Tunisia political prisoner Said Ferjani, latest victim of Kais Saied's 'purge'

The daughter of Tunisian political prisoner Said Ferjani has called on the UK government to free her father, who is the latest victim of President Kais Saied's purge of opponents.

Kaouther Ferjani has urged MPs in the UK, where her father lived in exile for decades as a member of the moderate Islamist Ennahdha Party, to do all they can to free him.

Said Ferjani was detained in Tunisia on 27 February amid a growing assault on the country's political opposition by President Kais Saied.

In 2021, Saied launched a power grab, sacking the country's prime minister and suspending Tunisia's democratically elected parliament.

Since then, he has imposed a new constitution granting himself near-dictatorial powers. 

Prior to Saied's power-grab, Tunisia was seen as the only successful democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring wave of uprisings, which toppled dictators across the Middle East and North Africa

Saied's assault on Tunisia's democratic institutions has seen the country descend into "a fascistic dictatorship represented one of the great tragedies of modern politics", Kaouther Ferjani told The Guardian.

"The fact that he [Said Ferjani] is now being held as a political prisoner under Kais Saied’s regime is alarming and must be condemned by the international community," she added.

Said Ferjani was admitted to hospital shortly after his arrest but was sent back to prison where he has languished without charge. The Ennahdha figure has gone on a hunger strike to protest his detention.

There has been a wave of arrests of Saied's perceived opponents in recent weeks, including the head of a radio station and other members of Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party which was previously the biggest political force in Tunisia. 

Saied has meanwhile used increasingly racially charged and conspiracy-laden rhetoric in speeches, describing migrants as "hordes" and part of "a criminal plot... to change Tunisia's demographic makeup".

Migrants, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, say they feel increasingly unsafe in Tunisia.

Despite a ban on protests, hundreds of Tunisians turned out in central Tunis on Sunday to protest Saied's seizure of power.