Tunisia to probe recordings attributed to president’s ex-top aide

Tunisian prosecutors have opened an investigation to determine the authenticity of leaked recordings wherein President Kais Saied’s former top aide Nadia Akacha is allegedly criticising him and the way he ran the state, and saying that he had health issues.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Tunis Court of First Instance “has instructed the National Brigade probing terrorist crimes and crimes against the security of the national territory with initiating an investigation and conducting necessary technical requisitions on the audio recordings attributed to Nadia Akacha, former chief of staff of the President,” the court’s information officer said on a statement yesterday, according to the Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) news agency.

The recordings have been circulating widely on Tunisian social media accounts and appear to be of Akacha criticising Saied for the way he ran the country and for not acknowledging his health issues.

“He will end up very badly, because he is ill and does not recognise his illness. … His family aggravates his case and makes him crazy,” Akacha reportedly said.

Akacha has denied that it was her who was speaking in the recordings.

READ: Tunisian President’s top aide quits, citing fundamental differences