(Tunis) The Tunisian Minister of the Interior justified Monday the arrest of the strong man of the Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha, Noureddine Bhiri, by “suspicion of terrorism in the file”, assuring that the latter, hospitalized because that he refuses all food and medicine, is “well treated”.
“There were fears of a terrorist act […] Concerning the security of the country, it was necessary to react “, explained to the press Taoufik Charfeddine, specifying to have transmitted” reports “to the Ministry of Justice and to the prosecution which” were slow “to take measures.
The minister said he then decided to “quickly apply” the “judicial control” of Mr. Bhiri, a 63-year-old former justice minister, assuring that he had respected Tunisian law.
Mr. Bhiri was arrested Friday morning by plainclothes agents in front of his home, and taken to an unknown location, according to members of Ennahdha who had denounced a “kidnapping”.
Ennahdha has been at the heart of a standoff with President Kais Saied since his July 25 coup and his decision to suspend the parliament that this party had controlled for ten years.
Mr. Saied’s decisions have been described as a “coup” by Ennahdha and several opponents, while national and international NGOs have expressed concern about an authoritarian drift.
The file is characterized by “serious suspicions”, according to Mr. Charfeddine, and relates in particular to “the production and delivery” of false identity papers and nationality certificates, for the benefit of a Syrian, among others.
The minister said he “personally ensured that (Mr. Bhiri) was treated well”. “We have done our safe, legal and human duty,” he said.
According to a delegation from the Body for the Prevention of Torture (INPT, an independent authority) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who visited him, Mr. Bhiri has been hospitalized since Sunday “under close surveillance in cardiology ”in Bizerte (north), because he suffers from several chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, in particular).
He “refused to be transferred to the military hospital” where he could have been better taken care of, said the minister, adding also to have proposed to Mr. Bhiri’s wife to visit him, accompanied by her doctor. treating, which it refused, according to him.
The Ennahdha party announced on Monday that Mr. Bhiri was on a hunger strike.
Mr. Bhiri has refused “all food and medication” since Friday, and doctors fear a deterioration in his health, a member of the delegation who visited him on Sunday told AFP on Monday morning.
This source assured that the former minister was “lucid” and “not in critical condition”.
Activists and deputies of the Ennahdha party and his wife, for their part, said Sunday evening that Mr. Bhiri was in “critical condition”, in intensive care and that there were “threats to his life”.
Samir Dilou, lawyer and deputy for Ennahdha, told the press on Monday that the arrest of Mr. Bhiri was “a political affair and an instrumentalisation of justice”, announcing a complaint for “kidnapping” against President Saied and the Minister Charfeddine.
As of Saturday, the INPT and the defense committee of Mr. Bhiri had denounced his placement in detention in a secret place and the absence of clear reasons for his arrest and a “complete silence” of the Ministry of the Interior on the file. .
The ministry had only announced two house orders, without giving names, Friday evening, noting a “preventive measure dictated by the need to preserve national security”.
An informed source from the INPT told AFP on Monday that he had “no news” from the other arrested, Fethi Baldi, also a member of Ennahdha.
Minister Charfeddine assured that he had given the necessary authorizations to the INPT to intervene within the framework of its mandate which consists in verifying the health and conditions of detention of persons deprived of their liberty.