Saied rejects the “interference in the internal affairs” of Tunisia after the arrest of opposition members

21 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The president of Tunisia, Kais Saied, has rejected this Thursday what he has described as “blatant interference in the internal affairs” of the country, after the authorities have arrested several members of the opposition party Ennahda, dictating prison for the leader of the same, Rachid Ghanuchi.

“We are an independent and sovereign country, and we do not allow anyone to interfere in our affairs. Our history in the fight for rights and freedoms is much deeper than the history of many countries,” he declared, before adding that Tunisia did not it is a “colonial or tutelage state”.

Saied has asserted that “the law has been applied by honorable judges” and that the arrests “are related to a call for civil war”: “We do not arrest a person for an opinion he expressed or a position he assumed,” he has maintained. .

A Tunisian judge ordered this Thursday the imprisonment of the leader of the Islamist party Ennahda, Rachid Ghanuchi, arrested on Monday and investigated for an alleged “plot against state security”, in the framework of a campaign of arrests against politicians and activists critical of the President Kais Said.

In his statements, the party leader called Saied’s actions a “coup” – who in July 2021 arrogated all powers after dissolving the Government and suspending Parliament, later dissolved – and said that “it is not necessary to be tolerant of this and must be categorically condemned”.

In addition to Ghanuchi, the Tunisian authorities arrested three other senior officials from Ennahda — Belgacem Hasén, Mohamed Cheniba and Mohamed Gumani — all of whom are also being investigated for alleged “plots against state security.” The authorities have also closed the headquarters of Ennahda and the National Salvation Front opposition coalition and have prohibited meetings of their members.

In recent days, both the United Nations and the European Union or the United States have condemned the arrest of Ghanuchi and the rest of the opposition leaders. After that, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry stated that “justice is practiced in Tunisia with discretion without being affected by the wave of unacceptable comments.”

The opposition, mainly united around the National Salvation Front, has denounced the authoritarian drift of the president and has demanded his resignation, especially after his call for a boycott in the December and January legislatures resulted in a participation rate close to ten percent.