The Tunisian military justice ordered the provisional arrest of the journalist Salah Attia, who appeared this Monday accused of "insult the army" Y "violate public order"after his statements about the military institution in a foreign media, his lawyer Samir Ben Amor reported on social networks.
In an interview granted this Saturday to the Qatari network Al Jazira, Attia assured that the president, Kais Said, ordered the security forces to close the headquarters of the trade union center UGTT before its general strike, scheduled for next June 16 in the public service, and put its leaders under house arrest; to which the Army refused and informed the union.
"It would be said that we are in the last of the Ben Ali regime"pointed out the journalist, who denounced the "coup" of the president, who last July assumed full powers and has governed since then by decree to "preserve social peace".
Hours after the broadcast, Justice opened a judicial investigation and Attia was placed in police custody after refusing to reveal his sources.
For its part, the UGTT, which days before denounced being a victim of pressure from the authorities after refusing to participate in a national dialogue that excludes political parties, denied these statements in a statement. "misleading".
According to the annual Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report, Tunisia fell 21 positions in the ranking freedom of the press, one of the great achievements of the 2011 revolution, ranking 94th out of a total of 180 countries.
In the last year, civil and military justice has opened numerous investigations and has adopted precautionary measures against magistrates, heads of institutions, businessmen and deputies for alleged cases of corruption and others linked to freedom of expression.
