Skip to content

Corruption Ledger

The Public Ledger of Corruption

  • About
  • Corruption
    • banks
    • corporate
    • environment
    • government
    • health
    • Leaks
    • misinformation
    • privacy and surveillance
    • Protest and Unrest
  • Sanctions
    • Sanctions News
    • Global Sanctions Feed
    • European Sanctions Feed
    • Canadian Sanctions Feed
    • US Sanctions Feed
  • Regions
    • Asias
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • Oceania
    • US & Canada
    • World
  • Enforcement
  • Economy
  • International Conflict
  • Tech
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Free Speech
  • Toggle search form
  • Wells Fargo fined for sanctions breach _enforcement
  • Google Co-Founder, Other Billionaires Are Issued Subpoenas in Lawsuit Over JPMorgan’s Ties to Jeffrey Epstein; Sergey Brin, Thomas Pritzker, Mortimer Zuckerman and Michael Ovitz are asked for information in U.S. Virgin Islands’ civil suit against bank All Regions
  • Chinese businessman Guo Wengui seeks bail in $1 billion fraud case All Regions
  • IMF approves $15.6 billion Ukraine loan, part of $115 billion in global support All Regions
  • Russian preventive strike ‘petition’ possible after Ukrainian nuke plea -ITAR-TASS All Regions
  • Dominion’s Fox News defamation case headed to trial All Regions
  • Pussy Riot Member Accused of ‘Insulting Religious Sensibilities’, adds her to wanted list All Regions
  • Finland Clears Last Obstacle to NATO Entry All Regions

Wave of raids, arrests target government critics in Tunisia

Posted on February 17, 2023February 20, 2023 By 5amResearch No Comments on Wave of raids, arrests target government critics in Tunisia

Tunis, Tunisia – Mounia Brahim shakes as she recounts the arrest of her husband Abdelhamid Jelassi, a former politician from the Ennahdha party, from their home in the Tunisian capital.

“About 8pm Saturday [February 11], there was a banging on the garden gate. In the time it took my husband to walk to the front gate [to see who it was], uniformed policemen were climbing over our garden wall, then walked straight into our apartment, taking his phone and iPad and my mobile and laptop,” she said.

Jelassi is among several people whose often-violent, night-time detentions have shocked the country and drawn international condemnation while raising fears over a crackdown on dissent. They include those with ties to the opposition, critics of President Kais Saied, businessmen, the head of a leading radio station, lawyers and a former diplomat.

Brahim said the men showed neither any police IDs nor a warrant even when she demanded, but she noted they were wearing the civil police uniform.

“They told me they were from the Ministry of Interior but wore civil police uniform,” she added, and then they took her husband. He is currently being held in pre-trial detention in Mornaguia prison.

‘Another round of dictatorship’

For Brahim, this is history repeating itself. She said she and her husband were imprisoned and tortured under Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the former president who fled the country in 2011 following protests against his oppressive rule.

“We’ve returned to another round of dictatorship, but this time it is much tougher,” she said.

Referring to what felt like a home invasion, she added, “I feel that there is no longer any dignity. I’m under surveillance and I really fear for my safety.”

That same night, Khayam al-Turki, a member of the centre-left Ettakatol (Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties) party, was taken from his house after midnight and is currently detained under terrorism laws from 2015.

Like al-Turki, businessman Kamal Ltaief, reputed to be a powerful lobbyist, was also held under the counterterrorism law.

Ltaief, who was once very close to Ben Ali and helped him rise to power in 1987, survived investigations during the 2011 revolution to continue his business and investment interests.

Former diplomat William Lawrence, a professor at the American University in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera: “Ltaief likes to call himself Tunisia’s de facto vice president after 1989 [and] has been described as a power broker or kingmaker, he has that skill of brokering deals.”

Al-Turki’s lawyer, Ridha Bel Hadj, said his arrest is related to his meeting with two American diplomats. The police case notes mention the licence plate numbers of the diplomats’ cars, the lawyer said.

Bel Hadj explained that there has been no formal charge against al-Turki, but a suggestion of his “forming a criminal gang to harm the Tunisian state”.

“The case against them is empty. They are using the terrorism law to hold them for a maximum of 15 days without charge or consultation with a lawyer,” he said, explaining that it was used to gain time.

Presidential candidate Kais Saied speaks to the media at his campaign headquarters.
President Kais Saied has pledged to ‘purify the country’ using the justice system [File: Muhammad Hamed/Reuters]

Trampling dissent

Several arrests have been made since Saturday. Apart from politicians, those being held are accused of price fixing, market manipulation or creating food shortages.

Tunisians have for months been suffering from shortages of food – even basic necessities such as oil, sugar, milk and butter – with the government attempting to stave off bankruptcy while trying to negotiate a refinancing loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Saied has added fuel to the fire by accusing some of those detained recently of being responsible for the price increases and food shortages while pledging to “purify the country” using the justice system.

Chaima Aissa, a leader of the National Salvation Front, said al-Turki has been organising meetings of key opposition figures since December 27 to develop a roadmap to exit the crisis and rebuild the country.

Aissa is already facing charges of criticising the president on a radio interview under the cybercrime decree law of September 2022. She is currently at liberty, but under a travel ban awaiting trial in a military court and could potentially face years in jail if convicted.

Saied has faced criticism and scrutiny from both the international community and human rights groups for his use of military courts to try citizens.

“Saied is creating a diversion, he’s mixing political targets with criminal cases to give an impression that political actors are responsible for price rises and food shortages,” Aissa told Al Jazeera.

“Saied is using the terrorism act and price fixing accusations to get public sympathy, it’s pure populism,” said Bel Hadj, adding that it was merely a meeting of a group of politically like-minded people.

On Monday night, Ennahdha’s vice president and former justice minister, Nourredine Bhiri, 64, was taken into custody. The moderate Islamist party was the largest in parliament until the assembly was suspended in 2021 by Saied.

Bhiri had been previously arrested, and his location was only disclosed when he fell ill from being on a hunger strike. He was finally released in March 2022.

Bhiri’s lawyer Samir Dillou told Al Jazeera that police assaulted his wife, arrested him and later beat him in custody.

“His right shoulder was broken and he received other injuries to his leg,” said Dillou. “Surgery on his shoulder was delayed,” the lawyer added, also explaining the concerns as Bhiri is elderly, with diabetes and hypertension.

The arrest of Nourredine Battou, the director general of Mosaiq FM, the country’s largest radio network, on the night of February 13, has been condemned by the journalist and radio unions. He was known for giving a platform to those critical of Saied and his administration.

The radio station was a private company, but the state took part ownership after the 2011 revolution. Bel Hadj sees the arrest of Mosaiq FM’s head to gain control of its editorial line and silence critical debate and intimidate journalists.

On Thursday, the Tunisian journalists’ union SNJT demonstrated in front of government buildings, the Kasbah, denouncing the worsening working conditions and arrests.

Lawyers have also expressed concern over the surveillance that both Tunisian political figures and foreign diplomats are under.

Aissa noted that policing was back to the Ben Ali days when even being seen with a foreign journalist in a car was dangerous. “They could make up a charge against me. Saied has arrived at a new level of harassment, he’s creating an atmosphere of fear and people are really afraid.”

A return to autocracy?

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern “over the deepening crackdown against perceived political opponents and civil society”, while the US State Department’s spokesperson Ned Price said “it is a core US principle that people around the world should be able to express themselves without fear or reprisal”.

Lawrence said diplomats “almost always know when they are being surveilled, it is a standard part of diplomatic practice”, adding that reports of surveillance would be followed up with an investigation.

“The issue is that the US is a major security ally of Tunisia and the US is spending a lot of money to bolster security forces including surveillance [since the 2015-16 terror attacks on Tunisia],” he said.

Tunisia is turning its enhanced surveillance capacity on Tunisian politicians meeting with US diplomats and then accusing them of conspiracy to harm the state, he noted, adding that “all that bodes very badly for the US-Tunisia relationship going forward”.

“If he [Saeid] wants to supplant the American role with the Russians or Chinese, it doesn’t help his case for Tunisia to be a good security partner with others in the future.”

Lawrence added that “if he does this today with the US he could do [it] tomorrow with another security partner, it is security and diplomatic malpractice”.

Speaking on Tunisian television on Thursday, Dillou said 14 lawyers, including himself, have been summoned for trial in March.

He believes that they are being targeted because they are representing political figures and critics, and “the number will possibly be increased. Some could be arrested even before the date set for their court appearance.”

There will be more arrests, Bel Hadj said. The president “is blocked inside his own political programme. I think Saied has no choice but to continue to exercise his authoritarian power.”

https://www.aljazeera.com

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/17/hldtunisianopposition-reels-after-series-of-police-raids-arrests

All Regions, government corruption, Protest and Unrest, Region Africas, Region Asias, Region Europe, Region US & Canada

Post navigation

Previous Post: North Korea fires ballistic missile, South Korean military says
Next Post: Credit company Jaracanda Finance hit with infringement notices over its repayment calculator

See also

  • Thousands of Aussies trapped in mortgage prison All Regions
  • Congressman Mo Brooks casually explains political corruption on camera All Regions
  • Child suicides in Japan hit record high of 514 in 2022 All Regions
  • U.S. approves selling Taiwan munitions worth $619 million All Regions
  • Bayer: Supreme Court rules Bayer must return $252 mln in Roundup royalties All Regions
  • Billions Keep Flowing to Afghanistan, State Dept. Blocks Audit to Disclose Where Money is Going corporate corruption

You must log in to post a comment.

  • Wells Fargo fined for sanctions breach
  • Google Co-Founder, Other Billionaires Are Issued Subpoenas in Lawsuit Over JPMorgan’s Ties to Jeffrey Epstein; Sergey Brin, Thomas Pritzker, Mortimer Zuckerman and Michael Ovitz are asked for information in U.S. Virgin Islands’ civil suit against bank
  • Chinese businessman Guo Wengui seeks bail in $1 billion fraud case
  • IMF approves $15.6 billion Ukraine loan, part of $115 billion in global support
  • Dominion’s Fox News defamation case headed to trial
  • Pussy Riot Member Accused of ‘Insulting Religious Sensibilities’, adds her to wanted list
  • Russian preventive strike ‘petition’ possible after Ukrainian nuke plea -ITAR-TASS
  • Finland Clears Last Obstacle to NATO Entry
  • Macron announces water saving plan; says protests will not stop reforms
  • Kremlin comments on WSJ correspondent arrest
  • Minnesota derailment spills ethanol, prompts evacuations
  • Deutsche Bank Stock Tumbles On Contagion Fears
  • Wall St falls as bank contagion fears flare up
  • US due diligence firm Mintz Group says staff detained in China after office raid
  • Credit Suisse, UBS facing US Russia-sanctions probe, subpoenas also sent to employees major US banks
  • (US) Appeals court sides with Justice Department in Trump lawyer fight
  • Russia boosts defenses near Japan; accuses U.S. of expanding Asia-Pacific presence
  • US credit card debt at record high as Fed raises rates again
  • Russian tech giants appeal Nasdaq delisting
  • China Denounces Submarine Deal
  • China insists it is impartial on Russia-Ukraine, questions US ‘pouring weapons into the conflict’
  • German ambassador confirms that Putin would be arrested if he entered Germany
  • Danish Navy present near Nord Stream 2 – media
  • Railroad reluctant to say who OK’d chemical burn after Ohio derailment
  • Scientists insist on continuing search for toxics in East Palestine
  • Top aide of Canadian PM Trudeau will testify in parliament on Chinese election meddling
  • Zuckerberg, Meta sued for failing to address sex trafficking, child exploitation
  • Norfolk Southern: Independent group finds toxic chemicals that Ohio EPA didn’t – Ohio train derailment (East Palestine)
  • JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank to face lawsuit over Epstein ties
  • Putin announces readiness to switch to the Chinese Yuan currency in foreign trade
  • Putin and Xi sign two documents in Moscow
  • Russia says jet scrambled as US B-52 bombers fly over Baltic Sea
  • Paris police, protesters clash for third night over Macron’s pension reform
  • Global / ChipMixer software ‘taken down’ by multi-national law enforcement coalition
  • Russian officials scoff at ICC’s indictment of Putin
  • SVB parent company files for bankruptcy
  • Violent protests in France over Macron’s retirement age push
  • International court issues war crimes warrant for Putin
  • US / Chinese tycoon and Bannon ally Guo Wengui charged with $1bn fraud
  • Samsung to invest $230 billion to build mega chip cluster
  • Pentagon calls Moscow over drone incident
  • Credit Suisse slump renews fears of global banking crisis
  • Silicon Valley Bank execs, parent company sued after collapse
  • Credit Suisse Shares Plunge as Bank Storm Spreads to Europe
  • Dow tumbles nearly 500 points as Credit Suisse stokes fears of bank failure contagion
  • Russian jet, US drone crash over Black Sea, US military says
  • Dark hours for Credit Suisse Bank
  • Account full of holes at Credit Suisse
  • Russia blasts Canada over ‘regime change’
  • US / Sterling Bancorp, Inc. to Plead Guilty to $69M Securities Fraud
  • US drones have no business near Russia – ambassador
  • Inflation in Argentina surges past 100 percent in historic spike
  • Paris visitors alarmed at trash strike
  • China says AUKUS on ‘dangerous path’ with nuclear subs deal
  • Taiwan unveils portable attack drone as China tensions rise
  • Putin rejects theory about Ukrainian role in pipeline blasts
  • Syrian president Assad arrives in Moscow, set to meet Putin
  • Marin’s F-18 proposal fizzles, as a new Finnish NATO tack emerges
  • Ohio sues Norfolk Southern over toxic train derailment
  • US / ‘Forever chemicals’ in drinking water
  • Nord Stream blasts staged by a state-level actor – Putin
  • No Harvey Weinstein retrial on rape, sex assault charges
  • US / Silicon Valley Bank execs, parent company sued after collapse
  • As U.S. steps back from Middle East, China steps in
  • Western sanctions shielding Russian financial system from global crisis – Kremlin
  • Moody’s puts US banks on notice
  • Robert Kiyosaki predicts next big bank to fold
  • UK $6 billion defense boost targets atomic submarines, weapons top-up
  • BBC gets £20 million boost from UK govt
  • Document reveals why Canada arms Saudi Arabia – media
  • Taiwan braces for ‘total blockade’ – media
  • Biden administration lets Ukrainians who fled war stay in US
  • Ratings Deceit: S&P sued for deceitful CDO ratings
Rumble Video

Corruption Ledger Follow

The Public ▇▇▇ Ledger of ▇▇▇ Corruption. https://t.co/wkobrEotQR

5amResearch
Corruption Ledger @5amresearch ·
10 Feb

News Coverage of the September 2022 #NordStream Pipeline Attack https://corruptionledger.com/news-coverage-of-the-september-2022-nord-stream-pipeline-attack/ via @5amResearch

Reply on Twitter 1623868066818928641 Retweet on Twitter 1623868066818928641 Like on Twitter 1623868066818928641
Corruption Ledger @5amresearch ·
10 Feb

Mia Jankowicz of Business Insider calls Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Seymore Harsh a "discredited journalist." #NordStream

Reply on Twitter 1623857264086974464 Retweet on Twitter 1623857264086974464 Like on Twitter 1623857264086974464 1
Corruption Ledger @5amresearch ·
9 Feb

#Kraken to Discontinue Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Staking-As-A-Service Program and Pay $30 Million to Settle SEC Charges
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-25

Reply on Twitter 1623815305452560384 Retweet on Twitter 1623815305452560384 Like on Twitter 1623815305452560384
Corruption Ledger @5amresearch ·
9 Feb

SpaceX: Ukraine breaching agreement, weaponizing Starlink https://en.mdn.tv/71FW

Reply on Twitter 1623685510496505860 Retweet on Twitter 1623685510496505860 Like on Twitter 1623685510496505860
Load More

–

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2022 Corruption Ledger. This web site contains no ads.