Tunisia: Former PM Ali Laârayedh arrested

Tunisia’s anti-terrorism judge decided to imprison Ali Laarayedh, a former Prime minister and senior official in the Islamist opposition Ennahda party, after hours of investigation into suspicions of sending Tunisian jihadists to Syria, the defense of the ex-Premier has told media.

“The investigative judge issued a prison decision against former Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh in what is known as the deportation jihadists file,” lawyer Ines Harrath said.

“This is true,” Mokthat Jmayi, another defense lawyer of Laarayedh, told Reuters, without giving further details.

His party laid into the arrest arguing that it is a political attack on a foe of President Kais Saied to hide the catastrophic failure of the elections.

Tunisians went to the polls on December 17 for legislative elections. The independent electoral body put turnout at 11.2 per cent. Most of political parties and trade unions, including Ennahdha, boycotted the process and called on President Kais Saied to step down.

Security and official sources estimated that around 6,000 Tunisians traveled to Syria and Iraq last decade, to join jihadist groups including Islamic State. Many were killed there while others escaped and returned to Tunisia.

Some 820 people including Laarayedh are being investigated in connection to the case. The former Premier Minister was briefly detained in September for three days and was expected to appear in court December 19.