Tunisia rejects foreign criticism of opposition trial
President of Tunisia Kais Saied has come out in frustration at comments made by foreign parties concerning the current mass trial of opposition figures in Tunisia.
According to Moroccan-friendly Hespress, President Saied has accused world powers of “blatant interference in Tunisia’s internal affairs” in a post on the President’s Facebook page.
The trials in question involve 40 defendants, some of whom have already been imprisoned for the last two years for opposing the current government.
The actions which have led to these arrests are described as “conspiring against the state” by the government, with the trials affecting politicians, journalists and lawyers who have been in opposition to the current government, with this being seen by the wider international world as a severe damage to civic and press freedoms in Tunisia.
An example of a key figure in the trial is Jawhar Ben Mbarek, a constitutional law professor who has been held for nearly two years for his opposition to the current government.
The trials have seen world powers call on Tunisia to stop what many critics have dubbed “unfair” persecution, with France, Germany and the UN calling on Tunisia to halt the legal proceedings.
This view has been furthered by Volker Turk, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has commented on the trials.
“The process was marred by violations of fair trial and due process rights, raising serious concerns about political motivations.”
Whilst the UN and other world powers have extended their condemnation, the current presidency is not accepting these comments.
His clear response to these comments is in his presidential Facebook post: “The comments and statements by foreign parties are unacceptable… and constitute blatant interference in Tunisia’s internal affairs.”
It is clear that Saied is making his own decisions in his actions towards civic liberty and press freedoms, and many critics believe that the path he is taking is one which undermines them completely.
Hespress, Maghrebi.org
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