Tunisian opposition leader Lotfi Mraihi arrested | Political news

Mraihi joins a long list of President Saied’s political opponents who are in prison or face prosecution.

The leader of the Tunisian Republican Union Party, Lotfi Mraihi, who has announced his intention to run in the presidential elections scheduled for October, has been arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

According to politicians and local media reports, the arrest took place on Wednesday in the province of Nabeul in northeastern Tunisia.

A court spokesman in Tunis said earlier this week that Mraihi, one of President Kais Saied’s most prominent critics, was accused of money laundering and opening bank accounts abroad without a central bank license.

Mraihi’s arrest came as opposition parties, many of whom are in prison, accused Saied’s government of pressuring the judiciary to track down Saied’s rivals in the upcoming election and pave the way for him to run for a second term.

Saied was elected president in 2019 and has not yet formally announced his candidacy for the Oct. 6 election, but he is widely expected to seek a second term. Last year he said he would not hand over power to people he described as non-patriots.

Abir Moussi, chairman of the Free Constitutional Party and a prominent candidate, has been in prison since last year for endangering public security.

Moussi’s party claimed that she was detained to exclude her from the presidential race, a claim the authorities denied.

Other candidates – including Safi Saeed, Nizar Chaari and Abd Ellatif Mekki – are facing criminal charges including fraud and money laundering.

Prominent potential candidate Mondher Znaidi, who lives in France, is also facing corruption charges.

The opposition believes that fair and credible elections can only take place if imprisoned politicians are released and the media can work without pressure from the government.

In 2021, Saied seized almost all power, dissolved parliament and began ruling by decree, a move the opposition calls a coup.

He oversaw the drafting of a new constitution, which was approved by referendum in 2022, introduced a presidential system and weakened parliament.

Saied said his steps were legal and necessary to end years of rampant corruption among the political elite.

Since last year, prominent opponents of the president have been arrested for conspiracy against state security. Businessmen, media representatives and politicians have also been arrested in the course of the raids.