Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Africa North

In Kais Saied's Tunisia, an election with few opponents

2024-08-18

[NEWARAB] ''I'm sorry, I can't take the risk to talk to you. It's already been quite a journey,'' said one presidential candidate after turning down an interview request from The New Arab.

In Tunisia, an increasing number of public figures are declining to engage with foreign media as private meetings with NGOs, embassy officials, or foreign press are being used in legal cases against political opponents of President Kais Saied.

Tunisia is experiencing a never-before-seen presidential election. Under Ben Ali's regime, the situation was straightforward: even the few opponents who managed to run as candidates could not criticise the regime without risking imprisonment.

During the democratic era, Tunisia saw hundreds of political activists and leaders participate in the presidential elections of 2014 and 2019. However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
Kais Saied's coup in July 2021 marked the beginning of an ongoing authoritarian shift.

The army was deployed to close the elected parliament, hundreds of Tunisians were arrested for opposing the government, an anti-press decree led to widespread censorship (and self-censorship) of mainstream media, and the parliamentary system was abandoned after the largely boycotted 2022 constitutional referendum.

The 2023 Human Rights Report concludes that Tunisia ''experienced further regression in terms of human rights
...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
and the rule of law during 2023 in the absence of genuine checks and balances on President Kais Saied's power''.

As Kais Saied announced presidential elections for 6 October, the political climate of the runoff was not the one Tunisians had become accustomed to in recent years.

The leader of the Free Destourian Party and former lawyer of Ben Ali, Abir Moussi, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda party Rached Ghannouchi, the former leader of the centre-left party Ghazi Chaouachi, and at least 60 other political opponents are currently imprisoned.

With most prominent opposition figures behind bars, many sought to exploit this political space to challenge the authoritarian shift and present an alternative vision. However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
most were barred from running due to new administrative requirements imposed by the electoral committee (ISIE).

Link

Africa North

Tunisia: Opposition leader Ghannouchi begins hunger strike in prison

2024-02-21

[AFRICANEWS] Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi went on hunger strike on Monday in solidarity with other anti-government figures waging a protest fast.
Let em fast. When they get hungry enough, enforce the fasting
The imprisoned Ghannouchi, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied and head of the Ennahda main opposition party

...the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia...

was jugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
last year on charges of incitement against police and plotting against state security.

The 82 year old was also sentenced earlier this month to three years in prison in a separate case on charges of accepting external financing.

His lawyers said in a statement that was quoted in the press as "while he is fighting the 'empty stomach' battle, Ghannouchi calls on Tunisians to adhere to a democratic Tunisia that includes everyone on the basis of freedom ... and the independence of the judiciary".

At least six opposition leaders arrested in a 2023 crackdown began an open-ended hunger strike last week to protest at their imprisonment without trial and demand their immediate release from prison.

Link

Africa North

Protests in Tunisia mark two years since presidential power grab

2023-07-26

[AFRICANEWS] Over 300 people rallied in Tunis on Tuesday to mark the two-year anniversary of President Kais Saied’s adoption of sweeping powers by suspension of Parliament.

Members of the opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, erupted into the streets to ask the released of some 20 detained figures of the party, alongside media and business figures charged for conspiracy against state security.

"It is the culmination of a multifaceted failure in all areas, be it constitutional, legal, institutional, economic, social or human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
, and everything related to freedoms, control and the use of the judicial power and management of the files of political opponents. In recent months, it (these failures) has had a very strong impact on the lives of citizens through the interruption of water and electricity, and the scarcity of necessities," explained Samir Dilou, Vice President of the National Salvation Front.

Former minister Lazhar Akremi and Chaima Issa were released earlier this month, but others remain in jug despite the appeals of numerous human rights groups, such as Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda party.

"This is a political crisis which is characterized by the presence of political prisoners, party leaders and a speaker of parliament in prison. This is the state of the system and what it has brought upon us. A return to the establishment of a system of fear through political arrests, as well as by Circular 54, which restricts freedom of expression and also attacks the freedom of the media. This is what the July 25 regime has achieved in its two years of rule," shares Imed Khemiri, spokesperson for Ennahdha

...the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, so of course he would object to anyone else holding power...

member of the National Salvation Front.

The balance sheet of the past two years leaves much to be desired.

While the parliament was engaged in incessant jousting, the economy collapsed, leading to inflation, declining growth, an exodus of investors and shortages of essential items.

Link

Afghanistan

Khorasani, a Taliban Commander, Arrests Two Nephews of Former National Security Chief of Panjshir

2023-05-23

[8am] Sources in Kabul city report that Abdul Hamid Khorasani, one of the Taliban
Taliban

...mindless ferocity in a turban...
commanders, has arrested two nephews of Engineer Ali, the former National Security Chief of the previous government in Panjshir.

Sources on Monday, May 22, speaking to Hasht-e Subh, state that Khorasani, along with 20 of his fighters, stormed the house of Engineer Ali’s brother in the eleventh district of Kabul six days ago and brutally beat and kidnapped his 16- and 17-year-old nephews.

These two adolescents are named Mohammad Musa and Idris. According to sources’ claims, they have been subjected to severe torture and humiliation, including electric shocks.

Sources state, "Abdul Hamid’s personal grudges, extortion from Engineer Ali, and the fact that these underage youths are Panjshiris are among the factors behind the attack on Engineer Ali’s brother’s house and the arrest of these young boys."

Hamid Khorasani has so far arrested several members of this former military officer’s family.

According to the sources’ allegations, the Taliban has demanded money and weapons in exchange for the release of these individuals from their families.

Sources, citing Khorasani, emphasize that these young boys have now been handed over to the Haqqani network
...a branch of the Afghan Taliban, based in Pakistain. The network is a family business founded by the later Jalaluddin Haqqani...
, and he cannot free them from the clutches of this network.

Based on the statements of the sources, two other members of Engineer Ali’s family have also been arbitrarily detained recently and transferred to an unknown location.

Previously, Abdul Hamid Khorasani had been accused of extortion and arbitrary arrests.

In the latest incident on May 9, 2023, Khorasani, who had gone to the Jabal Seraj district of Parwan province to arrest several residents, faced a reaction from the Taliban’s Ministry of Defense forces, resulting in the arrest of four of his guards.

Link

Africa North

Tunisia’s moderate Islamist leader gets year in jail after trial decried as sham

2023-05-17

[IsraelTimes] Rached Ghannouchi refuses to leave detention and appear in court; prominent critic of President Kais Saied says his 2021 move to take all powers into his hands amounts to coup

A court has sentenced moderate Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi to a year in prison for allegedly referring to coppers as tyrants in what his party said early Tuesday amounted to a sham trial.

Ghannouchi, 81, founder of the Ennahdha party,

...the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia...

has refused to be removed from his place of detention for questioning or to attend Monday’s trial, considering that the cases are "political settling of scores targeting opponents of the regime," lawyer Samir Dilou, a former party leader, said in an interview with The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.

Ghannouchi, a former speaker of parliament, is the most prominent critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied. He has maintained that Saied’s move in 2021 to take all powers into his hands amounted to a coup d’etat.

Ghannouchi was detained in mid-April on the charge of plotting against the security of the state. He has been called in numerous times for questioning on various matters, but this was the first time he was not released.

Monday’s case grew out of a complaint by a security union member claiming that Ghannouchi used the word "taghout," or tyrant, while eulogizing a member of his party at a February 2022 funeral. According to a tweet by his daughter Soumaya, he said that the dear departed "did not fear poverty, ruler or tyrant." Ennahda condemned the decision to prosecute as "an unjust political ruling" and called for his immediate release.

Ghannouchi is also being investigated for what his party says is another case of twisting words — allegedly evoking the threat of civil war if Ennahdha and other opposition parties are excluded from the political scene.

His party said on its English-language Twitter account that Ghannouchi was charged with conspiracy against state security and ordered to remain in prison pending trial.

"Kais Saied is making a mockery of the judiciary, using it as a tool for political Dire Revenge and persecution," his daughter tweeted.

About 20 other people, including the director of the respected radio Mosaique, Noureddine Bouttar, are currently detained on a variety of charges.

The crackdown on opponents comes amid growing social tensions and deepening economic troubles in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movement more than a decade ago.

Link

Africa North

Tunisia ex-speaker in court again over alleged jihadist links

2022-11-29

[AnNahar] The speaker of Tunisia's dissolved parliament appeared on Monday before a judge investigating accusations his party helped Tunisian jihadists travel to fight in Iraq and Syria.

Rached Ghannouchi, an arch-rival of President Kais Saied and also head of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party,

...the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia...

arrived in the morning at the anti-terror court in a suburb of the capital Tunis, said one of his lawyers, Mokhtar Jemai.

At the end of the hearing, the judge is expected to decide whether or not to charge the 81-year-old.

Several other Ennahdha officials have been questioned on the "shipment of jihadists" case since Saied sacked the Ennahdha-supported government and seized full executive authority in July 2021.

After Tunisia's 2011 revolt which toppled dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring, thousands of Tunisians joined jihadist groups in neighbouring Libya as well as the Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group in its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

Rivals of Ennahdha, which dominated Tunisian politics from 2011 until Saied's power grab, accuse the party of helping them leave.

The party has repeatedly rejected those accusations as "fabricated" and says authorities are trying to distract public attention from "economic and social concerns and the deterioration of people's living conditions".

Ghannouchi also appeared before a judge on November 10 as part of a case involving money-laundering and "incitement to violence".

Link

Africa North

Point-blank: On Egypt and Tunisia

2022-06-02

[AlAhram] Has Tunisia at last emerged from the dark tunnel of chaos to the light of stability? Tunisian President Kais Saied has recently formed an advisory committee to draw up a new constitution to establish what he termed "the new republic".

According to his roadmap, the committee will submit the draft to him on 20 June and a referendum will be held on it on 25 July. Tunisia is thus emulating the course Egypt took after the Moslem Brüderbund rode the crest of anarchy to assume power in Egypt, just as the Ennahda Party did in Tunisia.

Also, just as the Moslem Brüderbund stalled the realisation of the new order to which the Egyptian revolution had aspired, so too did the empowered Ennahda engender a state of anarchy that lasted more than a decade.

Yet, whereas Egyptians rose up after only a year of the Moslem Brüderbund regime and asked the army to step in to end rule by the Supreme Guide, Tunisia continued to flounder in an endless cycle of political conflicts between civil forces pressing for modern democratic government and Islamists aspiring to a monopoly on power. The result was political and institutional paralysis causing unprecedented economic deterioration. Unemployment rose to 19 per cent. The poverty rate climbed to 15 per cent nationwide and to over 40 per cent in some governorates.

According to the Institut arabe des chefs d’entreprises (IACE), more than 300 foreign businesses and branches closed down and left the country. Then Covid-19 struck, costing the Tunisian economy more than eight billion Tunisian dinars ($2.75 billion), according to the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics. In light of the gravity of this decade-long crisis, President Saied took several extraordinary steps. He dissolved the parliament, dismissed the government and dissolved the High Judicial Council. More recently, he appointed a new electoral commission before forming the above-mentioned constitutional drafting committee. As he explained at the time, his aim is "to rescue and change Tunisia after a decade of ruin."

How similar yet how different Tunisia’s experience has been compared to that of Egypt, which surpassed all those problems years ago, enabling it to march boldly and rapidly towards reconstruction and comprehensive development.

They forgot shoulder to shoulder, but most of the standards are contained —an impressive piece of writing! — in that single sentence.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Unidentified Gunmen Shoot To Death Lawyer In Daraa

2022-06-01

Unknown gunmen who were riding a motorcycle killed a lawyer in the eastern countryside of #Daraa, southern #Syria. https://t.co/yWHdj3mBEb
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) May 31, 2022

Unknown gunmen assassinated on Monday a lawyer in the eastern countryside of Daraa, southern Syria.

Unidentified gunmen, riding a motorcycle, shot dead the lawyer, Abdullah Oqla Abu al-Hayal, in the village of Saida, in the eastern countryside of Daraa, a local source told North Press.

Abu al-Hayal is from the village of Nada in the eastern countryside of Daraa and lives in Saida, according to the source.

In a separate incident, an explosive device exploded in the town of al-Musaifra, in Daraa countryside.

The explosive device targeted Ahmad Imad al-Issa, member of Abu Ali al-Lahham group, an armed group affiliated with the Military Security Branch of the government forces in Daraa, a local source told North Press.

However, al-Issa survived, according to the source.

Link

Africa North

Tunisian president dissolves top judicial watchdog, accuses it of bias

2022-02-07

[AlAhram] Tunisian President Kais Saied has dissolved a major independent judicial watchdog, he said Sunday, accusing it of bias and working for special interests.

The Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) "is a thing of the past", the president said in a video, accusing the body responsible for appointing judges of corruption and delaying politically sensitive investigations, including into the liquidations of left-wing activists in 2013.

Some observers say the government is seeking to clamp down on the Islamist-inspired Ennahda party, which has controlled parliament and the various governments since the 2011 revolution which toppled Ben Ali.

Saied has concentrated all executive power since July 25, when he dismissed his Prime Minister and suspended parliament.

He has since ruled by decree.

President Saied and his supporters insist that his decisions aim to rectify the country's democrartic path.

On Saturday, the "July 25 movement", which is composed of his top supporters, called on the president to dissolve the CSM in order to "purge" the judiciary of "corrupt magistrates".

"Unfortunately in this country, some judges in the courts have manipulated the Chokri Belaid case," said Saied, referring to a leftist leader who was shot three times outside his home in February 2013.

"This is not the first trial where they have tried to hide the truth for years," he added.

A major demonstration is planned for Sunday in Tunis to commemorate the liquidation of Belaid and of Mohammed Brahmi, killed in similar circumstances in July the same year.

"In this council, positions and appointments are sold and made according to affiliations," said the head of state.

"You cannot imagine the money that certain judges have been able to receive, billions and billions," he added.

Link

Africa North

Former Libyan Prime Minister Prepares Case Against Tunisia

2022-01-10

[LIBYAREVIEW] The Libyan Prime Minister during the rule of Muammar Qadaffy

...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest...
, al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, intends to file a case against Tunisia before the Libyan judiciary and the International Criminal Court (ICC), after he was acquitted of the charges brought against him.Al-Mahmoudi was imprisoned in Libya from 2011 to 2019, after Tunisia handed him over to Libya. Although al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi has distanced himself from politics, those close to him regularly seek his opinion on Libyan issues.

The former Prime Minister who now lives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) enjoys freedom of movement, especially in Europe.

Based on a ruling issued by the Tunisian judiciary, the Tunisian government of Hamadi Jebali, one of the most prominent leaders of the Ennahda movement, handed him over to the Libyan authorities in June 2012, despite his legal refugee status.

Al-Mahmoudi, who served as Prime Minister under Qadaffy since 2006, was arrested in the Tozeur region in southern Tunisia in September 2011. After the decision to extradite him to Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, he announced at the time that he had entered a hunger strike in his prison in Tunisia.

Al-Baghdadi was sentenced to death in 2015, but a Libyan court later acquitted him of the charges against him.

Mabrouk Khorchid, al-Mahmoudi’s lawyer in Tunisia, said neither he nor Mr. Mahmoudi’s family had been given any warning that his client will be extradited.

"I believe this is a state crime and is against human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
," he told the New York Times

... which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
. "This is a sad moment for human rights in Tunisia. I think he’s going to be tortured and treated illegally and believe that those who handed him over bear part of the responsibility."

Link

Africa North

Tunisia: Ennahda says senior party official 'kidnapped'

2022-01-01

[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 ~~violent~~ mostly peacefully assaulted." The party wrote that the move set a "dangerous precedent" on a path of "tyranny" through an "elimination of political opponents."

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.

Link

Africa North

Tunisian president says those who received foreign funding have no place in parliament

2021-12-14

[LBCGROUP.TV] Tunisian President Kais Saied said on Monday that those who receive foreign funding have no place in parliament.

The judiciary has opened an investigation into three political parties, including the two largest in the currently suspended parliament - Ennahda and Heart of Tunisia - on suspicion of receiving foreign funds during the 2019 election, a judicial source told Rooters in July.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More