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Hundreds of people in Tunisia protested living conditions and restrictions on freedom of expression on Saturday, at a demonstration called by the opposition "Nefes" (Breath) movement.
Protesters in the capital, Tunis, chanted slogans including "Game over, resign," "Neither judiciary nor law, the honorable are in prison" and "No electricity, no water, prison and high prices."
Speaking at the demonstration, El-Katiba news website journalist Rihab el-Havvat criticized the crackdown on freedom of expression.
"Today we are experiencing a process that restricts freedom of expression, affecting journalists, human rights defenders, bloggers and others," she said.
El-Havvat, who described telling the truth as the foundation of journalism, said people who raised concerns about water and power cuts had been detained.
She added that El-Katiba's editor-in-chief, Mohamed el-Yousfi, was detained outside a radio station where he had gone to appear on a program about the water shortages.
Tunisia has faced power cuts across large parts of the country for some time. The Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) says the outages aim to ease the burden on the power grid and prevent demand from exceeding production capacity.
The country is also grappling with drinking water shortages, along with problems accessing bottled water, which is widely consumed in the capital and other major cities.
Tunisia's political crisis deepened after President Kais Saied froze and later dissolved parliament through emergency measures on July 25, 2021. Saied calls the steps constitutional measures to protect the state, while opponents call them a coup that entrenched one-man rule.
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