Tunisia to investigate death of former President Beji Caid Essebsi
The official spokesman for the Court of Appeal in Tunis, Habib Tarkhani, said on Tuesday that the Minister of Justice had requested the opening of an investigation into the death of late President Beji Caid Essebsi.
The official spokesman for the Court of Appeal in Tunis, Habib Tarkhani, said on Tuesday that the Minister of Justice had requested the opening of an investigation into the death of late President Beji Caid Essebsi.
He added that the Minister of Justice, Leila Jaffal, submitted on Monday to the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Tunis a request to open an investigation into the death of the late President Essebsi in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 23 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Essebsi died on July 25, 2019 at the age of 93, in the military hospital in Tunis.
The aforementioned radio indicated that this decision comes in accordance with what was raised during a television interview about the death of the former president and its circumstances, without providing other details about the meeting, who conducted it, and the information contained in it.
Earlier on Tuesday, Tunisian Radio Mosaique said (privately) that the Minister of Justice had authorized the opening of an investigation into the circumstances of Essebsi’s death and conducting the necessary criminal investigations against all those who will be revealed in the research.
Essebsi died on July 25, 2019, and his death coincided with the date of the country’s celebration of Republic Day (July 25, 1957).
In early July of the same year, Essebsi left the military hospital in the capital, after receiving treatment and recovering from a health ailment, which the Presidency of the Republic described in a statement at the time as severe.
Essebsi returned to politics at the beginning of 2011, to occupy the position of prime minister, succeeding Mohamed Ghannouchi, until the Islamic Ennahda movement took power after winning the elections for the National Constituent Assembly on October 23, 2011, in the first free and democratic elections in the history of Tunisia.
Essebsi held political positions during the reigns of former presidents Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, including Minister of Interior (1965-1969), Defense (1969-1970) and Foreign Affairs (1981-1986).
On June 16, 2012, Essebsi founded the Nidaa Tounes party and headed it until winning the Tunisian presidential elections in 2014.
