Ali Laarayedh was interrogated for 14 hours and is predicted to look earlier than a decide on Wednesday, his attorneys mentioned.
Tunisia’s anti-terrorism police have detained Ali Laarayedh, a former prime minister and senior official within the Ennahdha celebration, a transfer the opposition celebration have referred to as a “political assault” by the nation’s president.
Laarayedh, who was prime minister from 2013 to 2014, was interrogated for 14 hours on Monday on suspicion of “sending jihadists to Syria”, in line with his attorneys, who introduced the detention on Tuesday.
Ennahdha’s chief, Rachid Ghannouchi, who was additionally speculated to have been questioned on Monday, can be interrogated on Tuesday.
Safety and official sources estimated that about 6,000 Tunisians travelled to Syria and Iraq within the final decade to hitch armed teams, together with ISIL (ISIS). Many have been killed there whereas others escaped and returned to Tunisia.
“I used to be in opposition to this phenomenon and took measures to restrict it,” Laarayedh mentioned on Monday.
It’s anticipated that he’ll seem earlier than a decide on Wednesday, lawyer Mokhtar Jamai mentioned.
“We’re shocked…the file is totally empty and with none proof”, Samir Dilou, one other lawyer mentioned, earlier than describing the case as a “farce”.
In a press release, Ennahdha condemned the situations of the investigation carried out by the Anti-Terrorism Squad, describing it as “a type of torture, abuse, a flagrant violation of human rights and an undermining of dignity in fabricated instances and malicious accusations”.
Ghannouchi anti-terror listening to delayed
The police postponed the listening to for Tunisia’s opposition chief and speaker of the dissolved parliament Rached Ghannouchi to noon on Tuesday, after he was made to attend for greater than 10 hours.
Ghannouchi additionally faces investigation over accusations referring to “terrorism”, which his celebration denies.
The 81-year-old has accused President Kais Saied of an anti-democratic coup since he seized appreciable powers final summer time, shutting down the parliament and transferring to rule by decree, powers he has largely formalised with a brand new structure.
Talking late on Saturday, Ghannouchi mentioned the summons was “a brand new try to focus on opponents and a brand new step in the direction of exclusion”.
Ennahdha spokesman Imad Khamiri instructed Al Jazeera that summoning Ghannouchi and different leaders aimed to distract public opinion from the rise in the price of residing and the nation’s financial woes.
There have been rising worldwide fears that Saied is reversing a decade of democratic progress in Tunisia following the North African nation’s revolution in opposition to longtime strongman Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
Opponents of Ennahdha have accused the celebration of being lenient in the direction of armed fighters, one thing the celebration has lengthy denied.