Today, Thursday, the Tunisian judicial authorities issued an international arrest warrant against former President Moncef Marzouki, against the background of television statements he made to a French channel, in which he expressed his joy at the postponement of the Francophone summit in Tunisia.
And the official Tunisian news agency reported that the liaison office of the Court of First Instance in Tunis announced that the investigative judge in charge of the Marzouki file had issued an international arrest warrant for the former president, after he expressed in televised statements on October 12 his feelings of pride following the decision of the Permanent Council of Francophonie to postpone The Francophone Summit was held after it was to be held in Tunisia on November 20-21.
The agency added that after Marzouki's statements, Tunisian President Kais Saied - while presiding over the first meeting of the new government - asked Justice Minister Laila Jaffal to open a judicial investigation into "the right of those who conspire against Tunisia abroad," stressing that "he will not accept that Tunisia's sovereignty be put on the table." negotiations."
In response to the issuance of an international arrest warrant against him, Marzouki told Al Jazeera that the matter contained a threatening message to all Tunisians, adding that he was not surprised by this decision from the authorities, and said that it was "an expected step because of my positions on the coup."
This is in reference to the exceptional decisions taken by President Saeed on July 25, to dissolve the government and freeze the work of Parliament.
Lawyers Complaint
The Tunisian News Agency reported that on the 14th of last month, a number of Tunisian lawyers filed a complaint against former President Marzouki, asking for an investigation to be opened with him "in order to commit the crime of attacking external state security."
And the Tunisian president had previously said in the middle of last month that he would withdraw the diplomatic passport from Marzouki after he demanded that France stop its aid to the Tunisian regime.
Moncef Marzouki denied his call for external forces to interfere in Tunisia's affairs, and said - during an interview with the "evening" program on Al Jazeera Mubasher - that "at a time when I asked France not to support the coup and not to interfere in Tunisia's issues, they accused me of calling for external intervention." I have been saying this to other countries for 30 years: do not interfere in Tunisia and do not support dictatorship.
He added, "National radio stations did not give me the right to respond. He (Saeed) is the third dictator I have dealt with, as if history is repeating itself. These are the same accusations that I heard during the era of Ben Ali and Bourguiba."
"Dictatorship does not accept opposition, the opposition is always a traitor in their eyes," he said.
It should be noted that these developments come in light of a political crisis in Tunisia following President Kais Saied's decision to dissolve the government, freeze parliament's work, lift the immunity of parliamentarians, and issue legislation by presidential decrees, headed by the Public Prosecution.
Most of the political forces rejected these decisions, and considered them a coup against the constitution, while other forces supported them and saw them as a correction of the course of the 2011 revolution, in light of the political, economic and health crises (the Corona pandemic).