Seifeddine Makhlouf, head of Tunisia’s conservative Karama party, and another opposition figure have been released by the country’s military court, his lawyer said on Monday.
Their release came amid concerns over human rights in the country since President Kais Saied seized power last year.
On July 25, 2021, Saied dismissed the North African country’s prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed all governing powers, a move described by the opposition as a coup.
He has promised to uphold the rights and freedoms won in Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, which ushered in democracy and triggered “Arab Spring” uprisings across the region.
Since Saied’s intervention, several senior politicians and business leaders have been detained or prosecuted, many of them on charges of corruption or defamation.
Makhlouf and Karama party member Nidal Saudi were arrested in September last year and charged with assaulting policemen.
Human rights groups have criticised some of the arrests and the use of military courts to hear cases.
