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Tunisia: Ennahda considers lift of Bhiri house arrest as proof of innocence

March 12, 2022 at 10:25 am

Tunisia’s Ennahda Noureddine Bhiri, 3 January 2022 [AFP/Getty images]

The Tunisian Ennahda Movement on Friday shared its belief that the lifting of the house arrest of its leader Noureddine Bhiri is proof of his innocence regarding the smear campaigns against him.

This was announced in a statement by Ennahda spokesperson Imad Hamiri during a seminar held at the movement’s headquarters in Tunis.

On Monday, the Tunisian authorities decided to lift the house arrest order against Bhiri and former security official Fathi Al-Baladi, who had both been detained since 31 December.

Al-Hamiri expressed: “The lifting of the house arrest order against Bhiri is proof of his innocence and the innocence of Ennahda against all the smear campaigns.”

He explained: “Ennahda and all its leaders are under the rule of the independent judiciary. Whoever has anything against the movement must go to the judiciary. It has not been proven that any leader of the movement was involved in any deportation file.”

Al-Hamiri added: “The independent Tunisian judiciary ruled in favour of Ennahda, and it was not proven that it received any foreign funding. We will prove to the public opinion at home and abroad that the movement is legal and what it is doing is legal. The economic and social conditions are deteriorating further in Tunisia, and all indicators are bright red, especially those related to the lack of basic foodstuffs.”

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He went on to say, “Tunisians are no longer able to secure and find bread,” warning President Kais Saied’s government against: “The continuation of this situation, which will be a real threat to social conditions.”

On 31 December, the authorities announced that both Bhiri and Al-Baladi had been placed under house arrest on “suspicion of terrorism” linked to illegally issuing travel documents and Tunisian citizenship to a Syrian and his wife.

Since 25 July, Tunisia has witnessed a severe crisis due to the imposition of “exceptional measures”, most notably the freezing of parliament’s operations, the issuance of laws by presidential decrees, the dismissal of the prime minister and the appointment of a new one.

While most political forces in Tunisia reject the exceptional measures and consider them a “coup against the constitution”, other forces support them and see them as a “course correction of the 2011 revolution” in light of the political, economic and health crises.