The Tunisian General Workers’ Union (UGTT) announced Friday that Tahar Mezzi, the union’s deputy general secretary and head of the union’s private sector, was released after being arrested on Thursday.

According to the UGTT, Mezzi was detained by government authorities in connection with an allegedly fabricated case regarding his extensive involvement in union activities. The incident occurred just a few days before the UGTT’s planned protest on March 2, aimed at denouncing what the UGTT described as “the violation of trade union rights and the disruption of social dialogue.”

In a statement released Thursday, the UGTT condemned Mezzi’s imprisonment and called for his immediate release and for the charges against him to be dropped. It also called for the preservation of the allegedly fabricated file aimed at undermining the union’s rights. According to the UGTT, Mezzi’s arrest is a purely political decision and part of a series of unfair trials of trade unionists. The UGTT claimed that the arrest, which took place just days before the workers’ protest rally in Kasbah Square, was intended to sow confusion and fear, in line with ongoing policy against striking trade union movements.

The UGTT urged trade unionists to nevertheless actively engage in the protest scheduled for Saturday, March 2, in Kasbah Square, and warned members to prepare for further action. Union activists hope to halt what they see as severe violations of the right to trade unions, as well as public and individual freedoms. This protest marked the union’s first in months and saw a large attendance.

The UGTT, which has around 1 million members, played a key role responding to the arrests of activists, businessmen and journalists when Tunisia’s President Kais Saied consolidated power in 2021 by closing parliament, a move the opposition called a coup. However, the influence of the union, widely recognized as the country’s most important force, has diminished significantly since last year with the arrest of some officials. Some political parties and activists have accused the UGTT of inertia, saying it has withdrawn from its influential role and chosen silence over confronting Saied’s authoritarian approach.