Two More Tunisia MPs Critical Of President Arrested: Party

Tunis, Aug 1 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Aug, 2021 ) :Tunisian security forces have arrested two MPs from an Islamist party opposed to a power grab by President Kais Saied, their party said Sunday.

Maher Zid and Mohamed Affes of Al-Karama have been placed in provisional detention in connection with a military investigation, party head Seifeddine Makhlouf wrote on Facebook.

Al-Karama is allied to the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, the main opponent of the president.

Their arrest late Saturday came a day after the detention of an independent MP, Yassine Ayari.

Ayari was arrested after branding Saied's decision last Sunday to suspend parliament and sack the prime minister and other top officials a "military coup".

Tunisia's military court said he was arrested pursuant to a two-month prison sentence passed in late 2018 for criticising the army.

Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have expressed concern over his arrest.

Affes is a former ultra-conservative cleric and Zid is a former journalist and blogger sentenced to two years in jail for insulting late president Beji Caid Essebsi.

Makhlouf, a lawyer critical of the president, said he himself, Zid and Affes were wanted for having allegedly insulted police officers in March who prevented a woman from boarding a plane at Tunis airport.

The prosecutor's office was not immediately available for comment, and the military court has not provided details.