Prosecutors block release of 8 American Embassy incident detainees

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali A source in the Tunisian Ministry of Justice said that the decision to release the eight men arrested in connection with the violent incidents that took place around the American Embassy in Tunis on September 14, has been blocked by the appeal. The course also confirmed that the accused remain under arrest until the appeal has been examined Tuesday.
The examining judge in the Primary Court of Tunis had issued a decision releasing a number of arrestees, while refusing to release nearly 90 others and returning the case file for further examination.
The National Constituent Council voted against the formation of a special fact-finding committee to investigate the attack on the American Embassy. Representative Najib Hosni had filed a request to form the committee, referring to the assault on the embassy as “an infringement of all international conditions and traditions,” and hoping that the committee would help the judiciary arrive at the truth and prove that the Tunisian people are “civilised.” A majority of the Tunisian Parliament voted against the proposal, however, seeing it as an encroachment upon the judiciary’s territory.
In other Tunisian news, the local League for the Protection of the Revolution in the downtown-Tunis district of Qasaba organized a protest Friday evening under the slogan “Friday of Decision before Severance.” The protestors demanded the release of those under arrest in connection with the death of Tataouine coordinator of the Nidaa Tounes Party Lotfi Nagdh.
Speaking about the arrest of Head of the Tataouine League for the Protection of the Revolution Saeid al-Shibli, member of the organization’s Executive Office Halima Mualej said that al-Shibli had been “stabbed in the back.” Referring to the arrest as an“abduction” and accusing the Ministry of the Interior of continuing the behaviours of the previous regime, Mualej said that al-Shibli’s family have not been informed of his whereabouts.
Eights suspects believed to have taken part in the acts of violence that resulted from the October 18 demonstrations were arrested Sunday. The protests were called for by the League for the Protection of the Revolution and some political parties demanding that government authorities be purged of the remnants of the former regime. The peaceful demonstration quickly became violent, leading to the death of Nagdh.
Fawzi al-Loumi, Nidaa Tounes Executive Office member, has also accused the league of copying the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (the Pasdaran), describing the committees as “organized militias,” saying they are a bigger threat to Tunisian security than Salafist groups.