Tunisia's powerful UGTT labor union rallied in the capital on Saturday in what appeared to be the biggest protest yet against President Kais Saied, staging a show of strength after his recent crackdown on opponents, Reuters reported. Many thousands of protesters filled Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the main street in central Tunis, holding banners that read "No to one-man rule" and chanting "Freedom! End the police state". They were marching after weeks of arrests targeting prominent opponents of Saied, who has staged his first major crackdown since he seized wide-ranging powers in 2021, shutting down parliament and moving to rule by decree. "We will continue to defend freedoms and rights, whatever the cost. We do not fear prisons or arrests," UGTT leader Noureddine Taboubi told the crowd. "I salute the jurists and politicians in Mornaguia prison," he added, referring to recent detainees. Hamma Hammami, head of the Workers Party, said protests were the answer. "He wants to spread fear but we are not afraid," he said.