The request for the release of the president of the Free Destourian Party (PDL), Abir Moussi, has been rejected”, said her lawyers at a press conference held at the party’s headquarters on Thursday.
Her lawyer, Karim Krifa, stressed that “the chief investigating judge did not respond to the defence’s request for release”.
“Failure to rule on the request for Moussi’s release within the deadline set by Article 87 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is in itself an implicit refusal.”
Last Friday, Moussi’s defence team submitted a request for her release to the dean of investigating judges at the Tunis Court of First Instance. The request was written and signed by members of Moussi’s “defence committee”, officially mandated by the National Order of Tunisian Lawyers (ONAT), chaired by the President of the Tunisian Bar Association, Hatem Meziou.
Krifa added that the defence committee’s request had been thoroughly examined, but that the dean of investigating judges had yet to issue a decision.
Moussi was arreste
d on October 3 in front of the registry office of the presidential palace in Carthage as she was preparing to file a complaint against the publication of decrees on local elections.
The PDL leader was accused of “changing the form of government, inciting citizens to arm themselves against each other and spreading disorder in the country.”
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse