20 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Tunisian Court of First Instance will try the opposition leaders arrested this week on charges of “conspiracy against state security”, defense lawyers have confirmed.
In conversations with the Tunisian agency TAP, the lawyers have confirmed that the case will be based on articles 68 and 72 of the Criminal Code, which provide for five years in prison for committing crimes against state security and two if the act is not committed. .
Article 72, however, punishes with the death penalty those responsible for “attempting to change the form of government, inciting people to arm themselves against each other or causing disorder, murder or looting on Tunisian territory.”
According to the Tunisian government, the arrest of the leader of the opposition party Ennahda and former speaker of Parliament, Rachid Ghanuchi, responds to his “inflammatory statements”.
In addition, the headquarters of Ennahda and the National Salvation Front were closed and meetings in the facilities prohibited, a decision that the Government frames in the current state of emergency in the country. This led the opposition to denounce an authoritarian drift in the country and to demand the resignation of the president, Kais Saied.
In recent days, both the United States, the United Nations and the European Union have condemned the arrest of Ghanuchi and three other opposition leaders, Belgacem Hassen, Mohamed Cheniba and Mohamed Gumani. The Tunisian Foreign Minister, however, on Wednesday described the statements by the international community as “unacceptable comments.”
