Ahmad 
The lawyer’s house in Tunis witnessed a raid for the second time in 48 hours, as security forces arrested lawyer Mehdi Zagrouba.
In press statements, lawyer Monia Bouali pointed out that the raid was carried out by a large number of security men who smashed glass facades and windows, leaving behind a state of terror and chaos among those present.
Bouali denounced the security measures taken, stressing that they set a dangerous precedent that threatens the status and freedom of the legal profession in Tunisia.
For its part, the Tunisian Interior Ministry indicated that the arrest was made on the orders of the Public Prosecution after it monitored a video clip showing lawyer Zagrouba assaulting a security officer inside the Palace of Justice, which necessitated the intervention of judicial authorities.
Tensions between the security services and the legal sector escalated against the backdrop of these events, as Tunisia witnessed a general strike carried out by lawyers in all national courts to protest the intrusion, infringement of the legal profession and violations against the independence of the judiciary.
The first raid on the “lawyer’s house” occurred to arrest lawyer Sunia Dahmani, in implementation of a judicial warrant for her arrest based on previous television statements, where she spent two nights in detention before appearing before the judiciary.
The National Bar Association condemned what it considered “a storming of the body’s headquarters and a flagrant attack,” and the head of the commission’s branch, Laaroussi Zogair, denounced in a press conference “the physical and verbal assault on lawyers and journalists,” announcing “a strike in the courts of Tunis starting from Monday.”
Zagrouba served as a member of the executive bureau of the Tunisian Association of Young Lawyers in 2023 and is known for his activism on the defense of judges dismissed by presidential order.
In a press release, “France 24” condemned the security intervention at the headquarters of the Bar Association, and the arrest of the channel’s cameraman, who worked with it for ten minutes before being released and considered what happened “a restriction on press freedom.”
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