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Tunisian Opposition Defies Protest Ban with Rally

Supporters of Tunisia's Salvation Front opposition wave flags during a protest over the arrest of some of its leaders and other prominent critics of the president, in Tunis, Tunisia March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
Supporters of Tunisia's Salvation Front opposition wave flags during a protest over the arrest of some of its leaders and other prominent critics of the president, in Tunis, Tunisia March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
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Tunisian Opposition Defies Protest Ban with Rally

Supporters of Tunisia's Salvation Front opposition wave flags during a protest over the arrest of some of its leaders and other prominent critics of the president, in Tunis, Tunisia March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
Supporters of Tunisia's Salvation Front opposition wave flags during a protest over the arrest of some of its leaders and other prominent critics of the president, in Tunis, Tunisia March 5, 2023. (Reuters)

Hundreds of opposition supporters in Tunisia defied an official ban on their protest against the president on Sunday after some of their leaders were arrested, breaking through a police barrier in central Tunis to rally in the city's main street.

Before the protesters broke through the barrier, police warned them by loudspeaker that their demonstration was illegal but added that they would not stop them by force.

Up to a thousand protesters then pushed a way through the cordon to reach Habib Bourguiba Avenue where most rallies take place.

The National Salvation Front coalition combines Tunisia's biggest party, the Islamist Ennahda, the Stop the Coup protest movement and some other political parties, demanding that President Kais Saied step down.

Sunday's protest is being watched to see how far the National Salvation Front and its constituent parts can mobilize supporters in public after the arrests, and how much force the police are willing to use against them.

In recent weeks, several of the front's top leaders have been detained as part of a crackdown on prominent critics of Saied, and charged with conspiring against state security. This week, the Tunis governor refused permission for Sunday's protest.

The front accuses Saied of a coup for suddenly seizing broad powers in 2021, shutting down the elected parliament and moving to rule by decree before writing a new constitution that he passed in a referendum with low turnout last year.

Saied says his actions were legal and necessary to save Tunisia from chaos, and has called his enemies criminals, traitors and terrorists, urging the authorities to take action against them.

The recent arrests also targeted the head of Tunisia's main independent media outlet, two judges, a labor union official and a prominent businessman, showing police were ready to target critics of Saied from across the political spectrum.

However, opposition to Saied is fragmented along ideological and political lines that were drawn during the period of democratic government after the 2011 revolution.

On Saturday, the powerful UGTT labor union and allied parties staged their own protest, bringing many thousands of supporters onto the streets against Saied in what appeared to be the biggest demonstration against him so far.

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The Arrest of Aws Salloum: What We Know About the ‘Azrael of Sednaya’

Photo of Salloum circulated on X
Photo of Salloum circulated on X
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The Arrest of Aws Salloum: What We Know About the ‘Azrael of Sednaya’

Photo of Salloum circulated on X
Photo of Salloum circulated on X

The name Aws Salloum, nicknamed the “Azrael of Sednaya,” has dominated social media over the past few hours. Syrian activists widely shared images of him in detention, alongside a resurfaced video of Syrian activist Mazen Hamada, who suffered torture in Syrian prisons and spoke of a jailer referred to as “Azrael.”

The “Radaa al-Adwan” (Deterrence Against Aggression) operations room announced the capture of the “Azrael of Sednaya,” accused of torturing and killing numerous prisoners. According to the announcement, Salloum was arrested during Thursday’s raids in Homs targeting remnants of the Assad regime.

Who Is Aws Salloum?

Syrian activists circulated videos showing a man arrested in Homs, identified as Aws Salloum. Salloum hails from the village of Al-Qabo in rural Homs, an area known for its loyalty to deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian revolution.

He joined the security forces of the Assad regime, where he gained notoriety for his brutality, as evidenced by survivor testimonies. He earned the nickname “Azrael of Sednaya” due to his heinous methods of torture and execution in Sednaya Prison, infamously referred to as the “human slaughterhouse.”

According to survivor accounts reported by the media, Salloum was responsible for the execution of over 500 detainees in gruesome ways, including crushing prisoners’ heads with concrete blocks. Former prisoners described Salloum as one of the most brutal jailers, employing extreme violence to maintain control and instill terror among inmates.

Activists also shared an old video of Syrian dissident Mazen Hamada recounting his experience with a jailer nicknamed “Azrael.”

In the video, Hamada said: “There was a man who called himself Azrael. He would come to us in the hospital at midnight, drunk. He would ask, ‘Who wants medicine?’ A young man from Daraya warned us, ‘Don’t raise your hands.’ When I asked why, he replied, ‘Do you want to die? If you raise your hand, you’ll be killed.’”

Hamada continued: “A man from Ghouta said, ‘I do.’ Azrael of Sednaya responded, ‘The Divine Court sentences you to death,’ and proceeded to beat him with a metal rod tipped with nails until he decapitated him.”

Mazen Hamada himself was later killed under torture in Syrian prisons. His body was discovered at a military hospital after al-Assad’s fall.

After the ousting of the Assad regime on December 8, opposition armed factions opened all prisons across the country, releasing detainees. This revealed the extent of the horrors committed in these facilities, with Sednaya Prison standing out as one of the most notorious sites of abuse. However, the fate of thousands of disappeared and detained individuals remains unknown, while mass graves continue to be unearthed across the country, bearing testimony to years of war crimes and atrocities.