Al-Jazeera Says Tunisian Police Storm Their Office in Tunis

This comes after Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed the government late on Sunday in a move his rivals have described as a coup.

Tunisian police have stormed the Al-Jazeera television office in the capital Tunis on Monday, the channel reported. 

According to Al Jazeera, at least 10 heavily armed police officers entered the office and said they were carrying out instructions and expelled all the staff. The reporters’ phones and computers were confiscated, Al Jazeera added.  

​This comes in the wake of Tunisian President Kais Saied’s decision late on Sunday to suspend parliament and dismiss Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi following mass protests which had taken place across Tunisia over the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the economy. 

The president said that he would assume executive authority with the help of a new prime minister. 

Supporters of Tunisia’s President Kais Saied gather as a police officer stands guard near the parliament building in Tunis, Tunisia, July 26, 2021.

Saied’s rivals condemned the move as an attack on democracy and considered it a coup. However, many people welcomed Saied’s decision with celebrations on the streets. 

​Tunisia has been crippled by political instability and economic crisis for years, and the situation got even worse amid political disputes between Saied, who was elected in 2019, and Mechichi, who became the prime minister last year.

Sourse: sputniknews.com