US Ally Jails Dissident, West Finds New Couch to Nap On
Tunisia’s Abir Moussi, a vocal opponent of President Kais Saied, has been handed a 12-year prison sentence for charges including 'assault' on election security. This follows her arrest in October 2023 for protesting outside the presidential palace, a common occurrence in any healthy democracy. Saied, who dissolved parliament and restructured the judiciary in 2021, apparently sees dissent not as a
feature of a vibrant political landscape, but as a judicial inconvenience. One might wonder where the condemnations are from Western capitals, always so quick to decry authoritarianism, unless of course, the autocrat in question is a 'strategic partner.' (Or in this case, a 'stability anchor' in a turbulent region.) Perhaps the State Department's outrage meter is currently stuck on 'mute' while
it's busy championing 'democratic values' everywhere else. It's almost as if some dictatorships matter more than others, especially if they are inconveniently located for Western interests. How many years in prison for opposition figures does it take to lose 'democratic ally' status?