Thousands of Tunisians have gathered in central Tunis, in defiance of an official ban on their demonstration against President Kais Saied.
They called for him to release detained critics and retract his controversial remarks on migrants.
He recently blamed illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, for violence and crime, and said there was a plot to change the demographic composition of Tunisia.
Saied has been ruling by decree, since September 2021, after dissolving parliament, suspending the constitution and dismissing the government.
Opposition parties and rights groups have said Saied’s crackdown on immigrants, which coincided with arrests of senior opposition figures, was aimed at distracting from Tunisia’s economic crisis.
Saied has ruled the country by decree after dissolving parliament, dismissing the government and suspending the constitution in 2021.