Tunisia -

Security arrests and judicial investigations in the past few days have targeted a number of politicians and members of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People (Parliament) in Tunisia, following the exceptional decisions taken by President Kais Saied in order to save the state and fight rampant corruption. Jurists and political analysts criticized these arrests, They expressed their fears that it would mark the beginning of a new dictatorship in Tunisia 10 years after a popular revolution overthrew the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime.

The arrests included members of the "Ennahda Movement" and "Heart of Tunisia" and the "Aish Tounsi" association, and investigations were opened with them regarding the financing of electoral campaigns, and security also arrested a number of parliamentarians from other parties, including Yassin Ayari of the "Amal and Action" movement. Faisal Al-Tabini, on the authority of "Voice of the Farmers", and Muhammad Al-Afas on "The Dignity Coalition".

The former judge, Ahmed Sawab, said in a statement to Al-Jazeera Net that the ongoing arrests are "the beginning of a new dictatorship, especially since the judiciary did not move a finger about violating the constitution and suspending its work, and the President of the Republic, Qais Saeed, headed the Public Prosecution, and the absence of the Ministry of Justice."

Sawab added that "this pressure on the judiciary is not normal, and the fortress of the judiciary remains the Supreme Judicial Council and not the President of the Republic, and the Council must impose the supremacy of the constitution as required by Chapter Two of the judiciary, and move with regard to the house arrest imposed on Judge Al-Bashir Al-Akrimi, and illegal moves understandable to investigative judges in this exceptional circumstance."

The beginning of the dictatorship

In turn, the President of the National League for Human Rights Jamal Muslim expressed his rejection of the arrests "that do not respect human rights," and said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net, "The arrests must comply with international standards, and we assure that we will not remain silent when there are violations, especially since the President of the Republic stressed the preservation of human rights." on public liberties, but there are no 100% guarantees in light of the current incomprehensible conditions.”

Muslim stressed the need for the detainees to be tried in a fair civil trial, and added, "We are afraid of everything that is malicious, regardless of the author of the case and the accusation against him, as the provisions of Chapter Five (of the Code of Criminal Procedure) must be respected in arrest and detention, and we have condemned those raids recently. Because it reached the level of assaults on physical inviolability."

On the other hand, the leader of the Ennahda movement, Mohamed Ben Salem, described the current situation as dangerous and a flagrant violation of the law, and said that "there are bad indications for the beginning of a new dictatorship, contrary to what the president claims with regard to preserving freedoms."

political revenge

On the other hand, political analyst Boulababa Salem believes that arresting the accused is permissible, but there is a priority today. "We hope that the president will start with the big whales of corruption, especially the businessmen he talked about in a report, and they are more than 460 businessmen."

Salem added in his speech to Al Jazeera Net, "When a particular party is targeted in the arrests, it is considered political revenge, but when it is comprehensive, we are not against fighting corruption, yet we are against intimidating and intimidating the safe and military trials of civilians, and night arrests are rejected, we are in a civil state."

On Monday, the "Lawyers to Protect Rights and Freedoms" group, which includes hundreds of Tunisian lawyers, published a statement denouncing the need to preserve freedoms and respect legitimacy.

Lawyer Islam Hamza, the group's spokeswoman, said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net that she and a group of her colleagues founded the group to protect rights and freedoms, monitor violations and abuses, and address them legally.

She added that the group's main goal is to return to legitimacy and the constitution, but the recent violations, arrests and night raids forced them to move quickly, and make preserving freedoms and rights a priority.

It is noteworthy that President Qais Saeed announced last July 25 the dissolution of the government and the freezing of Parliament for a period of 30 days based on Article 80 of the Constitution. .