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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Tunis - Mongi Saidani

Tunisian Security Arrests Former Ennahda Figure

Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Ennahda Movement. (EPA)

Tunisian special forces have arrested former Ennahda Movement senior official Mohamed Ben Salem.

He is also a former Minister of Agriculture.

Media reports revealed that he was arrested during his attempt to cross the Tunisian-Libyan border.

The Tunisian judiciary had questioned Ben Salem as part of an ongoing investigation about “money laundering and receiving funds from abroad” through a charity association.

He was banned from traveling in September to receive treatment, and again in October and for the third time in December.

The Labor and Achievement Party - headed by Abdul Latif al-Makki - confirmed that it has no information about the arrest, knowing that Ben Salem is a prominent party figure.

“Ben Salem is targeted because of his political stances,” according to the party, which was founded by independent leaders from Ennahda Movement.

It added that Ben Salem has recently faced a campaign of fabrications against him by suspicious Facebook pages.

Furthermore, it urged rights activists in Tunisia to stand by Ben Salem and support him.

The party held the authorities responsible for his health and safety, urging them to stop the campaign of arrests against opposition members and the violation of freedoms.

The Tunisian judiciary has recently issued prison sentences against several Ennahda leaders, while it kept Rached Ghannouchi, head of the movement, free despite summoning him several times for questioning.

Some prominent Ennahda leaders have been accused of conspiracy against the state.

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