TUNIS: The main coalition against Tunisian President Kais Saied said on Tuesday his administration was using the judiciary to close down opposition to his rule, after several inquiries were opened against its members.
In July last year, Saied sacked the government, froze parliament and seized far-reaching executive powers, later grabbing control of the judiciary, moves opponents said aimed to install a new dictatorship.
Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, president of the National Salvation Front, said he and three other members had been summoned for investigation after a complaint by another opposition figure from outside the alliance, Abir Moussi.
Moussi’s complaint came after Chebbi last month accused her of trying to reinstall a dictatorship similar to that of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was forced from office in the country’s 2011 revolt.
“In just 24 hours, without the complaint even being examined, a decision was already taken to prosecute us,” Chebbi told journalists on Tuesday.
He said the speed of the proceedings showed the complaint was being “instrumentalised” by authorities.
“It’s a shoddy piece of judicial theatre and one we won’t take part in,” he said. — AFP
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