Tunisian MP Attacks Head of Free Destourian Party

Arab World

July 1st, 6:57am

Tunisia - Mongi Saidani

File Photo: Tunisian parliament (Reuters)

Member of the Tunisian Parliament Sahbi Samara repeatedly slapped opposition deputy and head of Free Destourian Party Abir Moussi before lawmakers rushed to her rescue. It is unclear why Samara attacked Moussi, but a widely circulated video shows the deputy moving from his seat towards Moussi and started beating her. Tensions grew in the parliament after members of the Free Destourian Party protested an agreement to launch a headquarters for the Qatar Fund for Development in Tunisia. They also disrupted the public sessions several times. Meanwhile, the defense team of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi, the two politicians assassinated in 2013 by suspected Islamist militants, accused the judiciary of failing to reveal the perpetrators of the two crimes. The team confirmed that the weapons used to kill Belaid and Brahmi had not been handed over to the court, adding that an investigative judge was being pressured to disregard the case of the terrorist bombing of Habib Bourguiba Street in the Tunisian capital. The defense threatened to contact international bodies, calling for the formation of a “civilian coalition to defend Tunisians’ right to justice" and an independent judiciary that does not cover up terrorism. Member of the defense team lawyer Reda Radawi confirmed during a press conference that one of the judges threatened the President of the Judicial Council of Justice, claiming he has corruption documents that would implicate some members of the Council. This development would negatively affect the investigation in the assassination case, he warned. Radawi accused the Tunisian judiciary of concealing the report prepared by the General Inspection at the Ministry of Justice in an attempt to appoint one of the accused judges to “keep Tunisia under the control of terrorism.” He warned that over 20,000 terrorists are in Tunisia under judicial cover, asserting "we will do everything necessary to save Tunisia” from terrorists.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3056666/tunisian-mp-attacks-head-free-destourian-party