The investigative judge at the Judicial Council specialized in financial and economic crimes in Tunisia issued a prison sentence against former Minister of Agriculture Samir Beltayeb and 3 officials in the ministry on charges of corruption.
The investigative judge also decided to release 4 other officials in the ministry while keeping them pending investigation.
According to Tunisian media, the Public Prosecution had pledged on suspicion of committing crimes in violation of the legislative and regulatory provisions guaranteeing freedom of participation, equal opportunities in public deals and money laundering, against the background of a request for bids related to media equipment for the Ministry of Agriculture, with a value exceeding 800,000 Tunisian dinars (about 284,000 dollars). .
The Tunisian parliament has been suspended since last July 25 (Al-Jazeera)
statement and denunciation
For his part, the Tunisian Parliament (Parliament) - frozen in terms of competencies - confirmed today, Saturday, that President Kais Saied's decision to stop paying the salaries of deputies and their assistants is a grave breach of the constitution.
This came in a statement by the Presidency of the Council, more than a month after the issuance of a presidential decision to stop the salaries of MPs and their assistants in the country.
The statement stated that the decision expresses a grave breach of Article 80 of the Tunisian Constitution, which requires Parliament to remain in session throughout the exceptional period.
He explained that the situation of the advisors of representatives and parliamentary blocs is facing life difficulties as a result of these illegal decisions.
The statement added that the rights of the people's representatives are guaranteed by the constitution and the law, and is not a field for the policy of cure and exclusion, which will only increase the people's determination to uphold their legitimate rights.
On September 22 last, Saeed issued a presidential decision to stop paying the salaries of parliamentarians (217 parliamentarians) and their assistants within the parliamentary blocs.
Since last July 25, Tunisia has been experiencing a severe political crisis, with Saied taking exceptional decisions, including: freezing the powers of Parliament, lifting the immunity of its deputies, issuing legislation by presidential decrees, and dismissing the prime minister, provided that he assumes the executive authority with the help of a government he appointed its head.
decisions and refusals
The majority of political forces in Tunisia reject Said's decisions and consider them a coup against the constitution, while other forces support them and see them as a correction to the course of the 2011 revolution that overthrew the regime of late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1987-2011).
Yesterday, Friday, the Ennahda movement issued a statement renewing its rejection of the presidency’s attempts to dominate all authorities and undermine the foundations of the republican system, noting the escalation of the pace of measures aimed at perpetuating absolute autonomy after the abolition of the constitution and parliament and efforts to subjugate the judiciary.
The Ennahda movement pointed out that the Presidency of the Republic insists on what it called speeches that divide Tunisians, incite each other against each other, and undermine the foundations that brought together Tunisians, foremost of which is the culture of citizenship, national unity, respect for the law, arbitration of the judiciary, and the adoption of dialogue as an alternative to violence and exclusion.