The leader of the opposition Afek Tunes party, Fadel Abdelkefi, has denounced Wednesday that the Tunisian authorities have prevented him from boarding a plane from the capital and said that there is no court order to justify the measure.
«I have recently been banned from traveling abroad through Tunis Carthage airport without any court order or any document against me that could justify this,» he said in a brief message on his account on the social network Facebook.
Afek Tunes has issued a statement protesting the measure and reiterated that «the party president has not been informed of the travel ban from any jurisdiction», thus stressing that this action «can only be considered an administrative measure without any legal document».
Thus, the formation has pointed out that this is an «arbitrary» measure and a «violation of the fundamental and constitutional freedoms of individuals», while adding that it takes place «within the framework of the order to state agencies to repress the opposition».
The party said that it is also «further proof» of the «rapid deviation» of the president, Kais Saied, towards «dictatorship», but stressed that «these practices will not deter this party and its president from continuing the struggle to achieve a state that protects freedoms and achieves social and economic prosperity for all Tunisians».
«The president, Kais Saied, is responsible for what political, economic and social situations have led to the decline and what they may become in the foreseeable future,» he stressed in a statement, also published through his official Facebook account.
Abdelkefi’s denunciation came days after a Tunisian court issued a travel ban against the leader of the Islamist Ennahda party and president of the dissolved parliament, Rachid Ghanuchi, as part of an investigation against him for alleged corruption.
Tunisia is mired in a serious political crisis following Saied’s July 2021 decision to dissolve the government and suspend the subsequently dissolved parliament amid opposition allegations of an authoritarian drift by the president.
The country is preparing for early legislative elections in December, which will be boycotted by the majority of the opposition, which has already boycotted the July constitutional referendum, which strengthened the powers of the President and reduced the weight of the Parliament.
