Tunisian President defends placing people under house arrest and threatens "death"

Tunisian President Kais Saied affirmed that "many evidence proves the involvement of those placed under house arrest," accusing some of the detainees of committing "treason and association with Western countries," and waving the death penalty.

Tunisian President Kais Saied said on Monday that "many evidence proves the involvement of those placed under house arrest," accusing some of the detainees of committing "treason and association with Western countries," and waving the death penalty.

Saeed refers to both the deputy head of the Ennahda movement, Noureddine al-Buhairi, and the former official at the Ministry of Interior, Fathi al-Baladi, who have been detained for more than ten days.

Said added during a meeting with Prime Minister Najla Boudin that he "is not a proponent of dictatorship," according to a video clip broadcast by the presidency.

And Tunisia has been suffering since last July 25, a severe political crisis, following exceptional measures taken by Said, including: freezing the powers of Parliament, holding early elections on December 17, issuing legislation with presidential decrees, dismissing the prime minister and appointing new ones.

He denied, "Putting those who expressed their opinions or positions in prisons, the opposite of what many call for at home and abroad," as he put it.

Prominent political and social forces in Tunisia, including Ennahda, reject the exceptional measures, and consider them a "coup against the constitution", while others support them, seeing them as a "correction of the course of the 2011 revolution" that toppled then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Said continued, "There are documents with the Tunisian administration and security authorities that prove their involvement in many crimes, including passport fraud, deportation, and giving passports to those who were on terrorist lists."

He wondered: "Why do they not submit constructive proposals (he did not name them), unfortunately they are unable because they think in limited ways, and those who are detained in prisons are treated well and doctors monitor their health, and the cases published against them since 2013 have not been considered by the judiciary."

On January 3, the Minister of the Interior, Tawfiq Sharaf El-Din, announced that the placement of Al-Buhairi and Al-Baladi under house arrest was related to a “suspicion of terrorism” related to the “illegal way” of extracting Tunisian travel and citizenship documents for a Syrian and his wife, while Al-Buhairi was Minister of Justice (2011-2013). ).

The Ennahda movement, which has the largest parliamentary bloc (53 deputies out of 217), the Al-Buhairi family and his defense staff rejected this accusation and described it as "politicised", calling for his immediate release and holding Saeed and the Minister of Interior responsible for his life in light of his deteriorating health and transferring him to a hospital.

Criticizing the judiciary, Saeed said: "The matter is not about the judiciary and judges, but rather about an independent judiciary that enables the achievement of the Tunisian people's goals of freedom and justice, and that will only happen when the judges have all the capabilities and circumstances to carry out their lofty duties, not to be legislators, and this is not their role."

He continued, "We involve them, take their opinions and draw inspiration from their solutions, but they cannot be legislators of the law. There is no government of judges or a state of judges. They are judges of the Tunisian state, and there is no truth to our targeting of them, despite the fact that there is evidence that some (of the detainees) were involved in betrayals and links with Western countries." The penalty for that could be the death penalty.

On January 5, the Supreme Judicial Council (an independent constitutional body) expressed its refusal to "review and reform the judicial system through (presidential) decrees", calling on judges to "uphold their independence."

Morocco: Royal pardon for 637 detainees

The Moroccan government announced that King Mohammed VI of the country had issued a royal pardon for 637 people, on the occasion of the commemoration of the presentation of the independence document.

This came in a statement issued by the Ministry of Justice late Monday.

The statement said: "On the occasion of the glorious anniversary of January 11, 1443 AH, 2022 AD, His Majesty the King issued his order to pardon a group of 637 people, including detainees and those on release, who have been convicted by the various courts of the Kingdom."

He explained that "the beneficiaries of the royal pardon who are in a state of arrest amounted to 500 inmates, as 22 people benefited from the remainder of the prison sentence or imprisonment, and the prison sentence or imprisonment was reduced for 473 inmates."

According to the statement, the life prison was transferred to the specified prison for the benefit of 5 inmates, while the number of beneficiaries of the amnesty and those who were monitored in the event of release reached 137.

On January 11, 1944, the men of the national movement, in coordination with King Mohammed V, submitted a document demanding independence to the French protection authorities, calling for Morocco's independence and territorial integrity. The response of those authorities was to launch a campaign of arrests days after the document was presented.

The Silk Road reaches Morocco an important economic investment or the expansion of Chinese influence?

Morocco entered the "Silk Road" project, thus becoming the first Maghreb country through which the Chinese trade line crosses, and its gateway to the depths of Africa. While the African-Chinese economic relations are witnessing many criticisms, regarding Beijing's efforts to dominate a number of these countries.

On Wednesday, Rabat and Beijing witnessed the signing of a huge economic agreement between them regarding the joint implementation plan of the "Belt and Road Initiative", through which China seeks to link its industrial centers, by land and sea, with European and African markets.

By virtue of this agreement, Morocco will become the gateway to the Chinese initiative towards the depths of Africa. At a time when many criticisms are chasing Chinese economic policy in Africa, and its quest to burden those countries with debts with the aim of political domination over their joints.

Morocco on the Silk Road

The signed agreement aims to develop Morocco's benefit from Chinese financing provided by the "Belt and Road Initiative" to implement projects there. This initiative seeks to enhance the access of Chinese exports to various countries of the world, by injecting investments in the infrastructure and transport sectors, for the benefit of more than 70 countries.

The agreement was signed by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Chinese Vice-Chairman of the Development and Reform Commission Ning Jie Zhe. During the signing ceremony, Bourita said that trade between the two countries has grown by 50 percent in the past five years, from $4 billion in 2016 to $6 billion in 2021.

Ning Jie Zhe reminded that Chinese direct investments in Morocco amount to about 380 million dollars, mainly allocated to infrastructure, communications and marine fishing. He said, "Morocco is an important partner in the Belt and Road Initiative, which identifies areas of bilateral cooperation, to achieve more tangible achievements and promote development between the two countries."

The Chinese initiative, also called the new "Silk Road", aims to connect the Chinese market with more than 70 countries around the world, through a land belt of railways and roads through Central Asia and Russia, and a sea line to connect China with Europe and Africa. In a project launched by the Chinese President in 2013 at a cost of one trillion dollars.

Chinese economic policy trap

China seeks to make Morocco its gateway to West Africa and the Sahel region, by linking it to the "Silk Road". However, many criticisms are chasing Chinese economic policies in Africa, especially with regard to the debt packages it offers to the continent's low-income countries.

According to the statistics of the "World Bank of Global Debt", China's debts to low- and middle-income countries at the end of 2020 amounted to 170 billion dollars, about 75 billion of which were granted to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This makes China one of the most creditor countries in the world.

These debts, a large part of which passes secretly, i.e. not through the Chinese government and its indebted counterpart, burdens poor countries in preparation for the acquisition of their capabilities and political domination. As of the 40 low- and middle-income countries that have borrowed from China, the loan represents 10% of their GDP. China's debt represents for both Djibouti and Zambia 20% of their GDP.

In contrast, China tends to lend at high interest rates, perhaps four times the interest rates of a loan from the World Bank or a country like Germany. China also requires a maximum repayment period of 10 years, which is short compared to other loans that allow a repayment period of 28 years.