Tunisia places senior official in main opposition party under house arrest


  • World
  • Sunday, 03 Sep 2023

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian authorities placed Abdel Karim Harouni, the senior official in the opposition Ennahda Islamist Party, under house arrest, the country's main opposition coalition said on Saturday.

Harouni heads the Shura Council, the highest-ranking body in Ennahda, which was the biggest political party in the parliament closed by President Kais Saied in 2021.

The Salvation Front coalition said "the arbitrary decision" against Harouni was in the context of the arrest of leaders of Ennahda and the closure of its headquarters.

The police this year arrested the party's leader, Rached Ghannouchi, the most prominent critic of president, as well as several other party officials, including Noureddine Bhiri, Riadh Bettaib, Said Ferjani, Sahbi Atigue and Mohamed Ben Salem.

The government also banned meetings at all Ennahda offices, and police closed all party offices, in a move Ennahda said aimed at consolidating a dictatorial regime.

Police this year have detained leading political figures, who accused Saied of carrying out a coup after he closed the elected parliament in 2021 and moved to rule by decree before rewriting the constitution. Saied has described those detained as "terrorists, traitors and criminals".

The opposition parties have decried their leaders' arrests as politically motivated, and local and international rights groups have urged authorities to free the detainees.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
   

Next In World

Ottawa denies it has evidence linking India PM Modi to violence in Canada
Blinken to attend G7 meeting in Italy, US State Department says
Poland and Slovakia to sign agreement on ammunition production in 2025
Bomb squad sent to London's Gatwick Airport after terminal evacuation
Romania and Bulgaria may become full Schengen members in January, Hungary says
Fast-forming alien planet has astronomers intrigued
Explainer-How quickly can Trump's Musk-led efficiency panel slash US regulations?
NATO's Rutte visiting U.S. President-elect Trump, De Telegraaf reports
Russian Defence Minister says Moscow has sped up its advance in northeast Ukraine
London police carry out controlled explosion near U.S. embassy

Others Also Read