Tunisian Youth Opposition Muzzled, Students Arrested Over Song

Tunisian detained two students on Wednesday over a satirical song insulting the police, their lawyer said, stoking worries of a decline in freedom of expression since President Kais Saied initiated restrictions on civil liberties two years ago.
This week, two individuals who remain anonymous–“Y.C.” and “D.N.”–shared a video on Tik Tok and Facebook of themselves laughing and singing a song mocking and condemning the police’s treatment of inmates and their actions pertaining to laws regulating drugs.
According to their attorney, Imen Souissi, they are facing accusations of insulting others over social media and could face up to a year in jail if found guilty. The police and the interior ministry did not respond upon attempts to obtain a statement from them on this issue.
After the 2011 revolution that toppled previous President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s reign and spurred the Arab Spring protests, Tunisians gained significant freedom of expression.
Ironically, Saied, who shut down parliament and assumed full powers in 2021, promised to defend human rights and civil liberties and stated that he would not become a tyrant.
His opponents–who termed his actions a coup–claimed however that he had indeed essentially established an autocracy by imprisoning his opponents and silencing his critics.