Abir Moussi, the leader of the Free Destourian Party (PDL), one of the main Tunisian opposition groups, was placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday, October 3, after being arrested in front of the presidential palace, told AFP l his party’s lawyer, Naoufel Bouden, asserting that the reasons for his arrest remained unknown for the time being.
According to the PDL, Abir Moussi was arrested in front of the presidential palace in Carthage, where she had come to lodge, according to her, appeals against presidential decrees. In statements to Tunisian media, members of his party denounced a “kidnapping.” In a video posted on the PDL Facebook page and filmed before his arrest, Abir Moussi claims that the presidential office refused to accept his appeal and give him an acknowledgment of receipt.
This former MP is a fierce opponent of President Kaïs Saïed and the Islamists of Ennahda. Claiming the legacy of former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, overthrown in 2011 during the first revolt of the “Arab Spring”, she is accused by the left of seeking to reinstate a new dictatorship in Tunisia.
Since the beginning of February, the authorities have imprisoned several opponents, including the historic leader of Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi, as well as former ministers and businessmen. President Saïed, accused by the opposition of authoritarian drift, described those arrested as “terrorists”, claiming that they were involved in a “plot against state security”.