Tunisia-Arrest of Bhiri: Ennahdha comments on Interior Minister’s statements

Ennahda bloc in the suspended parliament denounced the “kidnapping” of MP Noureddine Bhiri, the “violence” that accompanied it as well as his “forced disappearance” which constitutes a “flagrant violation of all laws and international conventions ratified by Tunisia”.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, following a meeting held on Monday evening, it calls for “the release of Noureddine Bhiri, without any conditions or restrictions, and the trial of all those involved in this case. It considers that the statements of Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine (during a press briefing on Monday) regarding the charges against Noureddine Bhiri “are the responsibility of justice and its sole competence”, considering that it is a “political case” that “returns the country to dictatorship and political trials”, according to his words.

Ennahdha bloc also reaffirms its rejection of all decisions that “confiscate the 2014 Constitution” and represent a “clear trend towards an absolute autocratic regime and a Coup against constitutional legitimacy and the democratic path.” It also denounced the adoption of the state budget for the year 2022 by decree, “for the first time in the country’s history, and without submitting it to consultation between the various social and political actors.”

The Minister of the Interior said during a press briefing held Monday evening at the headquarters of his department that the two decisions of house arrest issued on December 30 and enforced on December 31, 2021, are related to the illegal granting of certificates of nationality, passports and national identity cards, also referring to “serious suspicions of a terrorist nature”.

‘TAP