Tunis, Tunisia – The head of a powerful Tunisian trade union confederation called on Monday to defend the group after protesters backed by President Kais Saied levelled harsh accusations against it.

The protest last week, which the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) said included “an attempted attack” on its headquarters by Saied’s supporters, added to concerns voiced by rights groups over shrinking freedoms ever since the president staged a power grab in 2021.

“We will not be silenced,” UGTT chief Noureddine Taboubi told an emergency meeting of the union’s leadership, called in response to Thursday’s rally that featured accusations of “corruption” and of being “a mafia”.

“Anyone with a case should seek legal redress — we are not above the law,” said Taboubi, vowing to defend the organisation’s “dignity and honour”.

The UGTT earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 for its part in supporting the North African country’s democratic transition following the Arab Spring revolution.

President Saied has expressed his support for the dozens of protesters who had gathered outside the UGTT headquarters in Tunis, promising in a video statement to ensure “accountability” for the UGTT’s alleged misconduct.

He denied the demonstrators were engaged in any violence.

Several leading rights groups have expressed their support for the UGTT, with the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights saying trade unions have become victims of smear campaigns.

Since Saied seized full powers in July 2021 in what critics have called a “coup”, local and international rights groups have denounced a democratic backsliding and the arrests of dozens of political opponents, journalist, lawyers and civil society figures.

© Agence France-Presse