Tunisian President Kais Saied. file | Photo Credit: AP
The main coalition against Tunisian President Kais Saied said Tuesday that his administration was using the judiciary to shut down opposition to his rule, after several investigations were launched against its members.
last July, Mr. Syed dismissed the governmentgrounded parliament and seized far-reaching executive powers, later seizing control of the judiciary, with what opponents say is the aim of installing a new dictatorship in the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings.
Ahmed Najeeb Chebbi, chairman of the National Salvation Front, said he and three other members were called for investigation following a complaint from Abeer Mousi, another opposition figure from outside the coalition.
Ms Moussi’s complaint came last month after Mr Chebbi accused her of trying to re-establish a dictatorship similar to that of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted from office in the country’s 2011 uprising .
“In just 24 hours, the decision to prosecute us was taken without even investigating the complaint,” Mr. Chebbi told reporters on Tuesday.
He said the speed of the proceedings showed that the complaint was being “instrumented” by the authorities.
“It is a lousy piece of judicial theater and we will not participate in it,” he said.
“I will not answer the summons, and if I am taken there by force, I will remain silent.”
Mr Chebbi said that any “Tunisian who has an independent opinion or is part of the opposition is a criminal as far as Kais Saied is concerned”.
Mr Chebbi last month asked Syed to step down, after a December election resulted in a voter turnout of slightly more than 11 per cent for an impotent parliament.
A lawyer defending a group of judges sacked by Kais Syed has also said they are being investigated for allegedly spreading false rumors “to undermine public security”.
Ayachi Hammami said his summons was based on a controversial order issued by Mr Sayed in September, which provides for prison sentences for anyone spreading “false information or false rumours” in the media or online.
Mr. Hammami said the investigation is related to his statements to the media late last month that prosecutors asked the top judicial body to remove 13 judges from immunity so they could be tried on terrorism charges.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, 35 human rights groups voiced their “full solidarity” with Mr. Hammami against the “fabricated allegations”.