This is how Kaïs Saïed is building a reign of fear.

Kaïs Saïed’s power and his compliant judges want to make Chawki Tabib an example.

A body imprisoned. A name tarnished.

A voice they seek to silence in order to remind an entire nation of the price of freedom.

But behind the brutal sentence of ten years in prison lies a deeper truth: this regime no longer merely judges individuals. It seeks to destroy what they represent.

And Chawki represents that Tunisia which refuses to bend.

The Tunisia of lawyers who stand upright.

Women and men who continue — despite fear, despite threats, despite hate campaigns — to defend the independence of the judiciary, the dignity of institutions, and the people’s right to live freely.

Today, our solidarity also goes to Meriem.

To the woman who bears the anguish, the waiting, the injustice, and the silent violence inflicted upon families.

Our solidarity goes to his relatives, his friends, and to all those who today see a loved one turned into a political target.

Because authoritarian regimes never strike only one person. They seek to exhaust families. To isolate resistance. To spread fear even within people’s homes.

But there are still women and men in Tunisia who refuse to look away.

This message is for the courageous women and men lawyers.

For those who continue to defend prisoners of conscience.

For those who still believe that an independent judiciary is the last frontier between a state and arbitrariness.

The regime wants them to understand that no robe protects anymore. That no voice is safe. That no dignity will be tolerated.

So we must answer even more forcefully: we will not allow fear to become law.

We will not allow prison to become an ordinary political language.

We will not allow Tunisia to descend back into darkness.

Because a country that imprisons its lawyers, its opponents, and its free consciences is a country being pushed toward silence and submission.

And because at the end of every dictatorship, there is always the same illusion: believing that by imprisoning people, one can imprison ideas.

Total solidarity with Chawki Tabib.

Total solidarity with Meriem, his family, and his loved ones.

And respect to all those who continue, against all odds, to defend the rule of law in Tunisia.