Tunisia opposition leader Lotfi Mraihi arrested
Al Jazeera
Mraihi joins a growing list of President Saied’s political opponents who are in jail or facing prosecution.
The head of Tunisia’s Republican Union Party, Lotfi Mraihi, who has announced his intention to run in a presidential election set for October, has been arrested on suspicion of money laundering.
According to politicians and local media reports, the arrest took place on Wednesday in Nabeul province in northeastern Tunisia.
A Tunis court spokesman said earlier this week that Mraihi, one of President Kais Saied’s most prominent critics, faces charges of money laundering and opening bank accounts abroad without a licence from the central bank.
Mraihi’s arrest comes as opposition parties, many of whose leaders are in prison, accused Saied’s government of exerting pressure on the judiciary to track down Saied’s rivals in the upcoming election and pave the way for him to win a second term.
Elected president in 2019, Saied has not officially announced his candidacy for the election, which is set for October 6, but he is widely expected to seek a second term. He said last year that he would not hand power to what he called nonpatriots.
