[DW] Lawmaker Noureddine Bhairi has been "kidnapped by security agents in civilian clothes and taken to an unknown destination," according to the Ennahda party.Security forces have detained a bigwig from the largest party in the suspended Tunisian parliament for the first time since President Kais Saied seized power three months ago, the Ennahda party said on Friday.
The moderate Islamist Ennahda,
...also known as the Moslem Brotherhood in Tunisia, so not moderate at all...
which accuses Saied of an unfair power grab, said plainclothes security agents had captured the party's vice president, Noureddine Bhairi."This morning, the Vice-President of Ennahdha party and Member of Parliament, Noureddine Bhiri, was kidnapped by security agents in civilian clothes and taken to an unknown destination," the party said on Facebook. "During the kidnapping operation, lawyer Ms Saida al-Akremi, wife of Mr Bhiri, who was with him, was
Ennahdha's fall from grace
Ennahda was banned before the 2011 revolution. It has since returned to the political stage and become the most consistently influential party, being a part of successive coalition governments.
As Tunisia's economy stagnated and its political system ground to a halt in recent years, support for the party has waned. Before the parliament was suspended by Saied, Ennahda controlled the largest number of seats, but was winning fewer votes than in previous years.
In recent months, several senior politicians and business leaders have been detained or subjected to prosecution, often involving cases of corruption or defamation.
Human rights groups have decried some of those arrests as well as criticizing the use of military courts to hear such cases.
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