Ennahda: Belaid's defence is lying and Saied must respond

The assassination of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid is being exploited to settle scores with Ennahda, the movement said, adding that President Kais Saied take action against this.

Belaid was shot dead in front of his house on 6 February 2013. His assassination triggered a political crisis in the country.

Soon after his death, Belaid’s widow Basma Belaid told France24 that she had no doubt that Ennahda and the movement’s leader Rachid Ghannouchi were responsible for her husband’s murder. Ghannouchi has denied responsibility for the assassination and has urged authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Commenting on Belaid’s defence team, Ennahda said: “It is a deceptive body, whose sole purpose is to spread chaos in the country and exploit the assassination file politically.”

“Where is your evidence against?” Ennahda asked. The defence body, the movement said, had committed many crimes against Ennahda and had obtained copies of Ghannouchi’s passport and private emails.

It added that this time the body allied with President Republic Kais Saied in order to undermine the independence of the judiciary, taking advantage of the decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council.

Ennahda held Saied responsible for Ghannouchi’s safety after there were mass calls for protests outside his house.

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