Tunisia: Ghannouchi's daughter sues lawmaker for defamation

The daughter of the suspended Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, Soumaya, yesterday filed a lawsuit against lawmaker Samia Abbou for defaming her after she accused her of “importing milk from Belgium” which was subsidised by the state and thus causing the local market to collapse.

“Today I assigned a team of lawyers to file a case against her [Abbou] for falsehood and false accusations,” Soumaya said on Facebook, adding that she challenged Abbou to provide proof for her claims.

The lawsuit comes days after a court fined Rached Ghannouchi 10,000 Tunisian dinars ($3,500) for allegedly “committing electoral crimes”.

Tunisia has been undergoing a political crisis since July, when President Kais Saied imposed exceptional measures, including freezing parliament, issuing legislation by presidential decree, dismissing the prime minister, and appointing new ministers.

In moves the opposition have called a “coup against the constitution”.

READ: Tunisia is back to square one and has to put civil freedoms first