The chief prosecutor of the Tunis Court of First Instance and the economic and financial judiciary, Mohsen al-Dali, gave information to the Tunisian official press agency about the investigation launched against political parties and some state institutions.
Mohsen al-Dali stated that an investigation was launched against the Ennahda Movement, the Heart of Tunisia parties, and the Tunisian Life Association on charges of “outsourcing the election campaign and accepting unknown funds to finance the election campaign.”
Al-Dali did not explain the reason for not revealing the opening of this investigation previously, but its announcement coincides with decisions taken by Tunisian President Kais Saied since the evening of July 25, which include the suspension of the activities of the parliament for a period of 30 days, the termination of the immunities of its members, and the relieving of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi from his post.
President Saied said he took these decisions to “save the Tunisian state.” However, most of the parties in the Tunisian Parliament rejected the decisions, with some considering the events as a “coup against the constitution.”
Both the Ennahda Movement and the Heart of Tunisia party, as well as the Tunisian Life Association, had previously denied the accusation of receiving “external funding,” according to their respective officials.
While Ennahda says that it depends for its funding on the contributions of its members and participants, the head of the Heart of Tunisia bloc, Osama Khelifi, considered, in media statements, the accusations of “external funding” directed at his party as a “systematic and malicious attack” by those he described as “election-wounded.”
