Leader of the Free Destourian Party (PDL), Abir Moussi, was arrested on Tuesday evening and will be detained for 48 hours, according to her lawyer, Nafaa Laribi. She was transferred to the Bouchoucha preventive detention centre in Tunis. Moussi was arrested earlier in the day in front of the Carthage Palace, Laribi told TAP. She was filing a complaint with the Presidency of the Republic, ahead of an appeal to the Administrative Court against recent decrees published in the official gazette concerning local elections. “Moussi was arrested on the basis of a decision by the deputy public prosecutor at the Tunis Court of First Instance, even though it is not his responsibility,” the lawyer said. Laribi pointed out that, given her status as a lawyer, the public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal is the competent authority to deal with the matter and issue decisions after informing the relevant authorities, namely the Tunis local Lawyers Association. He also stated that the defence team was first denied access to their client, who was taken to the National Security Centre in La Goulette and then to the Bouchoucha Centre. A representative of the local Tunis local lawyers association was then allowed to meet with her at around 8pm. Laribi speculated that Moussi was detained on suspicion of handling personal data without authorisation, obstructing the freedom to work and deliberately acting to cause disorder on Tunisian territory.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse