Tunisia: Interior Minister justifies the arrest of Noureddine Bhiri

Noureddine Bihri when he was Minister of Justice (illustrative image) AFP - FETHI BELAID

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After three days without giving information on the reason for the muscular arrest of the deputy and vice-president of Ennahdha Noureddine Bhiri, the Minister of the Interior, Taoufik Charfeddine justified Monday evening January 3 during a press conference his arrest on "suspicion of terrorism in the file".

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With our correspondent in Tunis

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Without ever directly mentioning the name of Noureddine Bhiri, the Minister of the Interior gave clarifications on Monday on the reasons for his arrest as well as that of the security executive Fathi Baldi on Friday, December 31.

He justified the house arrest decision on the basis of the law, the decree legislating the state of emergency in Tunisia and declared that there was indeed suspicion of a threat to national security.

The case is said to be linked to the granting of Tunisian passports and certificates of nationality for people wanted by justice, via the Tunisian embassy in Vienna as well as a certificate of nationality issued to an individual with Syrian parents.

Without giving more details or on the perpetrators of these misdeeds or the time frame during which they would have taken place, the Minister of the Interior declared that there was "

" in his words while specifying that he There are also numerous attempts to destabilize the security institution and that some, which would involve agents of the ministry, would be transferred to military justice.

He also specified that the authorities had authorized Noureddine Bhiri's wife to visit him, contrary to his wife's statements and that she would have refused.

The parliamentarian also did not want to be transported to the military hospital for treatment, according to the Minister of the Interior.

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