Former Tunisian President to be investigated

The Public Prosecution of the Court of Appeal in Tunis has launched an investigation on Friday into the statements of former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on French TV channel France24 last Monday.

The official spokesperson for the Court of Appeal, Habib Tarkhani, confirmed that the Minister of Justice Leila Jaffal had ordered the General Prosecutor of the Court of First Instance in Tunis to start an investigation against Marzouki, based on Article 23 of the Penal Code.

On Thursday, President Kais Saied ordered the withdrawal of former President Marzouki’s diplomatic passport because of his statements in which he admitted his attempt to postpone the Francophone Summit that was to be held in Djerba, southern Tunisia, next month.

At the beginning of the first cabinet meeting for Najla Bouden’s government, Saied ordered Jaffal to start an investigation into Marzouki’s statements, based on the provisions of Chapter 23 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, on charges of “conspiring against the security of the country,” a charge that could see him sentenced to death.