Tunisia: Authorities ban ex-minister from travelling for the eighth time

The former Tunisian Minister of Religious Affairs, Nourreddine Khadmi, said on Friday that he and his family were prevented from travelling for the eighth time due to a code known as the “S17,” pointing out that the decision was not taken on the basis of judicial proceedings.

Khadmi posted a video yesterday evening on his Facebook page that he and his family have started a sit-in at Tunis-Carthage International Airport.

The code “S17” is a security instruction that was adopted, during the era of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to stigmatise all those suspected of having relations with terrorist organisations.

“My family and I were banned from travelling for the eighth time on Thursday. My youngest daughter is suffering from severe psychological trauma because she was unable to travel to study abroad,” Khadmi said in his video.

He continued: “I planned to travel to look for an opportunity to enable my daughter to study abroad.”

He added: “I experienced a serious illness due to the trauma that lasted for 35 days in which I tried to travel and every time I was prevented.”

“I spent those days contacting and visiting state institutions including the Ministry of Interior, the Presidency of the Republic in addition to judicial, security and administrative institutions;” Khadmi said.

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The ex-minister confirmed: “The travel ban is not related to legal proceedings and after I contacted the Judicial Pole for Combating Terrorism and the National Unit for Investigating Terrorism Crimes, I was informed that there is no judgement issued against me.”

He pointed out that in mid-July he was barred from participating in a scientific conference in Istanbul in addition to the International Forum for Islamic Parliamentarians (IFIP).

Khadmi stressed that “travel is a constitutional right and I would not allow anyone to prevent me from it except through a judgement issued by a court; this is a principled and legitimate matter.”

As of 19:00 (GMT) on Friday, the Tunisian authorities did not comment on the sit-in by Khadmi and his family at Tunis-Carthage International Airport.