Tunis: The defence team for Abir Moussi, president of the Free Destourian Party (PDL), has filed a complaint with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) against “the parties that deprived Moussi of her liberty”.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Defence Committee said that this measure was taken in application of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Tunisia, which allows Tunisian citizens to refer any violation of their rights and freedoms to the competent United Nations institutions.

After the expiry of the maximum period of pre-trial detention, Abir Moussi is now being held without valid judicial authorisation in connection with the case known as the “registry office”, the Defence Committee noted.

No decision has been taken to extend her detention in accordance with Article 85 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the collective said.

For Moussi’s lawyers, these violations are part of “a manifest desire to trample on the fundamental rights” of the President of
the PDL.

They warned of the consequences of Abir Moussi’s “illegal” detention on the legitimacy of the forthcoming presidential elections, given that she is the PDL candidate.

On October 5, 2023, the judge at the Tunis Court of First Instance issued a detention order for Abir Moussi in connection with the “registry office” affair.

The PDL President was the subject of a further detention order on February 21, 2024, under Article 24 of Decree 54 on offences relating to information systems, following a complaint against her by the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE).

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse