The spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, expressed deep concern over the arrest of Ennahdha party’s leader Rached Ghannouchi.
“We’re very much deeply concerned about the arrest that we saw, and the continuing reports of other detention of political leaders of civil society leaders, the rating of the party, of the offices of Ennahdh,” Dujarric said in a press conference.
He continued by saying: It’s very important for the Tunisian Government and the Tunisian President to uphold the rule of law and due process including right to fair trials and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Tunisia is a party of.
The UN official concluded by calling for “the release of all the people who have been arbitrarily detained, including people who have been detained for just exercising their freedom of speech or freedom of assembly.”
Earlier on Monday, Ghannouchi was arrested at his home in the capital, Tunis, the latest in a string of opposition figures held.
Along the same line, Tunisia’s minister of interior has banned two prominent opposition groups, the National Salvation Front (NSF) and the Ennahdha party, from holding meetings.
At dawn on Tuesday, the security forces arrested the two Ennahdha leaders Muhammad al-Qumani and Belkacem Hassan.
Since early February, authorities in the North African country have arrested more than 30 political opponents and personalities.
They have included politicians, former ministers, businessmen, trade unionists and the owner of Tunisia’s most popular radio station, Mosaique FM.
