In Tunisia, the government justifies itself after the muscular arrest of an Ennahda leader – archyde

The facts are worthy of a detective story or a “Gangster movie”, as described by one of the lawyers of the defense committee of Noureddine Bhiri, deputy, vice-president of the Islamo-conservative party Ennahda and former Tunisian minister of justice, arrested Friday, December 31, 2021, in Tunis. According to Saida Akremi, lawyer and wife of the parliamentarian, off-road cars would have stopped in front of their home as the couple were about to leave. Officers in plain clothes reportedly beat the MP, who was allegedly forced into one of the vehicles before being taken to an unknown destination.

After forty-eight hours without information, Mr. Bhiri’s relatives learned that the latter had been transported urgently, following an illness, to a hospital in Bizerte, some sixty kilometers north of Tunis. A former security executive, Fathi Baldi, who had been an advisor to Ali Larayedh, former Minister of the Interior of Ennahda between 2011 and 2013, was also arrested in the same circumstances, according to Tunisian media.

This double arrest adds to the political climate in Tunisia, already tense since the establishment, on July 25, 2021, of an exceptional regime by President Kaïs Saïed, who froze the work of Parliament and assumed full powers. . On Monday January 3, the authorities finally broke their silence to give some explanations. Without mentioning the names of MM. Bhiri and Baldi, Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine spoke at a press conference about a “Threat to national security” and an “Suspicion of terrorism” in the context of a case in which Tunisian passports, nationality certificates and birth certificates were handed over to individuals wanted by the courts.

The facts allegedly took place at the Tunisian embassy in Vienna in 2013, but the minister gave no details on the identity of those involved, and did not specify the grounds for the indictment of Mr. Bhiri. “Recently, suspicious movements have been observed, and it was imperative to take these decisions”, he only indicated. Mr. Charfeddine mentioned attempts to destabilize the security institution and “Calls for rebellion” launched by agents of the ministry who will, he said, transferred to military justice.

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