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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced on Tuesday “the worsening of the repression” in Tunisia, after the Tunisian police arrested Noureddine Bhiri, a leader of the Islamo-conservative Ennahda party, as well as Noureddine on Monday. Boutar, the managing director of the private Mosaïque FM radio station, which often gives voice to the opposition.
In Tunisia, a leader of the Islamo-conservative Ennahda party and the director of a private radio station were arrested on the evening of Monday 13 February. These arrests come as part of a crackdown launched this weekend by the Tunisian security services and during which political activists, former magistrates and an influential businessman were arrested.
Ennahda leader Noureddine Bhiri, 64, was arrested and “taken to an unknown location” during a police raid involving around 100 officers at his home in Tunis, AFP told AFP. a spokesman for Ennahda, Abdelfattah Taghouti.
This former Minister of Justice had already been detained for more than two months at the beginning of 2022, five months after the coup by President Kaïs Saïed who had suspended the Parliament controlled by Ennahda, his pet peeve, and has since been trying to marginalize him. .
As soon as he was arrested, he had stopped eating and taking his medication before agreeing to be infused in a hospital where he had been transferred while in detention. Despite his release, Noureddine Bhiri was still being investigated on suspicion of “terrorism”, according to the authorities.
On Tuesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, denounced “the worsening of repression” in Tunisia, after the arrests of political activists, former magistrates and businessman.
During a press briefing in Geneva, his spokesperson, Jeremy Laurence, indicated that Volker Türk expressed “his concern at the worsening of the repression against those who are perceived as political opponents and civil society in Tunisia, including through measures taken by the authorities which continue to undermine the independence of the judiciary”.
“Since Saturday, at least nine people, including former officials, have reportedly been arrested and some detained on security-related or corruption charges,” he said.
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“Conspiracy against State Security”
The police also arrested Noureddine Boutar, the general manager of the private Mosaïque FM radio station, very popular in Tunisia, on Monday evening, the media reported. According to the radio’s website, which often gives voice to the opposition, a search was conducted at his home and his family was not informed of the reasons which led to his arrest.
On Saturday, the Tunisian police arrested the businessman Kamel Eltaïef, very influential in political circles and for a long time the gray eminence of ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, as well as two opponents, Abdelhamid Jelassi, former leader of ‘Ennahda, and a political activist, Khayam Turki, as well as two former magistrates.
A man in the shadows, Kamel Eltaïef, 68, is seen by many Tunisians as one of the symbols of corruption since the years of Ben Ali. A lobbyist with strong diplomatic connections, Kamel Eltaïef has made and broken careers in the police and on the political scene.
According to local media, those arrested this weekend are suspected of “conspiracy against state security”.
Due process and fair trial
“The United Nations Human Rights Office has observed that the Attorney General has increasingly initiated criminal proceedings against suspected opponents, accusing them of ‘conspiracy against state security’, insulting the Head of State or violation of the decree-law on the fight against cybercrime”, underlined the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“We are further concerned that some of those detained for criticizing the government have been tried in military courts. We call on the authorities to immediately end the practice of trying civilians in military courts,” he said. he continued.
OHCHR calls on the Tunisian authorities to uphold due process and fair trial standards and to “immediately release” all those arbitrarily detained, including anyone detained in connection with the exercise of their freedom of opinion or expression.
The UN also denounced the “series of measures” taken since July 2021 by the Tunisian authorities “which have undermined the independence of justice, in particular the dissolution of the Superior Council of the Judiciary and the dismissal without notice of 57 judges. “.
Since President Saïed’s coup, several politicians have been the subject of legal proceedings denounced by the opposition as settling scores.
The opposition accuses Kaïs Saïed of establishing an authoritarian regime repressing freedoms and threatening democracy in Tunisia, where the first revolt of the Arab Spring overthrew the dictatorship of Ben Ali in 2011.
With AFP and Archyde.com