Tunisia: lawyers condemn ‘politicised’ arrest of radio station director

Lawyers acting for the director of the private Tunisian radio station, Mosaique FM, announced on Wednesday that their client is being tried for “money laundering and illicit enrichment”. They condemned what they described as his “politicised” arrest in response to a programme that was critical of the Tunisian authorities.

Ayoub Al-Ghadamsi confirmed that the interrogation of Noureddine Boutar touched on the station’s editorial approach. He insisted that the allegations against his client are “baseless”. This case, he added, is “purely political.”

According to Al-Ghadamsi, his client is a victim of a retaliation campaign by the authorities for the station’s Midi Show “which angers the authorities and poses a problem for them through its voices that believe in freedom of expression.”

The Midi Show was launched by the station in 2011. It is a popular programme that reviews political news in Tunisia and often hosts guests who criticise the policies of President Kais Saied.

In a related issue, plain-clothes policemen arrested the Secretary-General of the Republican Party, Issam Chebbi, on Wednesday evening, the head of the opposition National Salvation Front, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, told AFP. The police also arrested political activist and Front member Shaima Issa, said her father.

“This latest round of arrests is a deliberate attempt to quash dissent including criticism of the president,” said Amnesty International. The human rights group urged Saied to “call off this politically motivated witch hunt.”

President Saied has described the detainees as terrorists and accused them of plotting to “strike state security” and manipulate the prices of basic commodities to fuel social tensions.

READ: Director of Tunisia’s Mosaique FM arrested