In Tunisia, the opposition accuses the executive of instrumentalizing justice. The leader of the National Salvation Front, Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, said at a press conference on Tuesday that he had been summoned by the courts.
Three other members of his bloc, Ridha Belhadj, Chaïma Issa and Jawhar Ben Mbarek must also be heard following a complaint filed by another opponent of power, Abir Moussi.
The complaint was filed after Ahmed Néjib Chebbi accused Abir Moussi, during a speech on December 25, of seeking to reinstate a dictatorship in Tunisia on the model of that of Ben Ali, overthrown in 2011 during the first revolt. Arab Springs.
“In twenty-four hours and without the complaint being examined, a decision to prosecute us was taken”, declared the opponent Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, for whom this judicial eagerness shows that “this complaint is instrumentalized by the power” .
“This is a bad legal scenario in which we will not take part,” he said. “I will not respond to this summons, and if I am forced to do so, I will remain silent”.
A party leader and a lawyer summoned by the justice
“Any free Tunisian, or having an independent opinion, or being part of the opposition, is, for Kais Saied, a criminal”, added Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, who had called on the head of state to resign after the abstention. mass recorded on December 17 in the first round of elections for a Parliament without real powers.
In addition, the lawyer Ayachi Hammami, who defends judges dismissed by Kais Saied, announced that he had also been summoned by the courts as part of an investigation for spreading false rumors “with the aim of undermining the security public”.
Thirty-five rights NGOs expressed in a statement on Tuesday their “absolute solidarity” with Ayachi Hammami in the face of the “fabricated accusations” against him.