26 June 2023; MEMO: Dozens of Arab and Muslim parliamentarians called on the Tunisian authorities to release detained parliamentarians, while calling on all parliamentarians in the world to stand behind their cause.
In a statement issued by the International Islamic Forum of Parliamentarians and signed by 181 parliamentarians from various Arab and Islamic countries, they expressed their full solidarity with fellow imprisoned parliamentarians in Tunisia, denouncing the injustice inflicted on them.
The parliamentarians stressed that the measures taken by the Tunisian authorities undermine freedoms, threaten the foundations of democracy in Tunisia, and even take it back to the practices before the Jasmine Revolution, which was praised by the world. It also perpetuates a state of frustration and despair among the Tunisian people, who have always been proactive in demanding freedom, social justice and national dignity, they added.
READ: Tunisia opens new probe into Ghannouchi, opposition figures
Months ago, the Tunisian authorities launched a campaign of arrests against dozens of opponents, most notably Speaker of Parliament Rashid Ghannouchi, MPs Rashid Al-Khayari, Mehdi Ben Gharbia, Issam Al-Shabi, Walid Al-Jallad, MP and former Minister Mohamed Ben Salem, and former MPs Ahmed Al-Ammari, Habib Al-Louz, and Ahmed Al-Mashriqi. They also arrested former MP and former minister Ghazi Chawashi, former MP and former Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh, and others.
On16 June, the leader of the National Salvation Front, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, accused President Kais Saied of seeking to "criminalise" any form of dissent. His statements came before he was interrogated as part of the investigation on charges of "conspiracy against state security."
Saied seized a number of powers in 2021, dissolved parliament and moved to rule by decree, a step the opposition described as a coup. Saied says his measures are legal and necessary to save the country from years of chaos and corruption.
