Tunisia: were politicians banned from travelling?

Lawyers in Tunisia have denied claims that the judiciary has issued new travel bans to former Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali and a senior official of Ennahda movement, Noureddine Bhiri, Anadolu has reported. Travel bans apparently remain in place from other cases, but not with regard to the Namaa Tunisia Association case, for which Jebali was interrogated on Tuesday.

The investigating judge at the Counter-Terrorism Judicial Pole decided to release him after listening to him for a number of hours, explained defence lawyer Mukhtar Al-Jamai. Moreover, he pointed out that no new travel ban was imposed, contrary to what is being claimed.

Al-Jamai explained that the defence team of the former prime minister had requested the lifting of the travel ban imposed against Jebali since the start of the investigation into the Namaa Tunisia Association case, but the Public Prosecution upheld it. The latest investigating judge did not issue any new travel ban, however. Nevertheless, Al-Jamai believed that the judge will maintain the existing ban as a precautionary measure, despite there being “no grounds” for doing so.

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Regarding the travel ban against Bhiri, Al-Jamai explained that the former minister of justice was not included in the investigations or banned from travelling in connection with the Namaa Tunisia Association case.

A number of prominent leaders, MPs, politicians and security officials have been caught up in the case, in which it is alleged that Tunisian citizens were sent to “hotbeds of tension”. Among those accused of involvement are the former Speaker of Parliament Rashid Ghannouchi and other senior officials from Ennahda, some of whom have been detained, while others have been released.