TUNIS: A Tunisian court on Monday ordered the release of prominent lawyer Ahmed Souab, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, his family said, in a move the opposition hopes will pave the way for the release of other jailed opponents.
Souab had been serving a five-year jail term following his arrest and imprisonment last year.
The court gave no reason for its decision at a hearing on Monday. Souab’s lawyers and family said he had recently been suffering health problems.
“This is very good news, and we hope it will be followed by the release of all unjustly imprisoned detainees,” Souab’s brother Mongi told Reuters. “We are on our way to the prison waiting for his release.”
Souab’s arrest sparked widespread anger among political parties and civil society groups, which saw it as a dangerous escalation of a crackdown on dissent and a further entrenchment of authoritarianism in Tunisia.
