The deputies of the parliamentary bloc of the Machrou Tounes party sent on Friday an official correspondence to the Ministry of Justice and the Presidency of the Republic to request the opening of an investigation and to obtain an official answer on "the case of spying and wiretapping and infiltration of the computer systems of the presidency of the republic and the various state apparatus for seven years ".
"This request follows the assertions of the political affairs director of the ruling party Nidaa Tounes, Borhene Bessaies, according to which the services of the presidency are infiltrated either by wiretapping or in computer systems and his multiple statements making state of his deep conviction that relatives of the president of the republic, his entourage and his former and current advisers are involved in espionage operations for the benefit of other foreign services, " MP of Machrou Tounes, Sahbi Ben Frej, told TAP.
He stated that the purpose of sending the correspondence "is to ascertain Besaies' assertions, know the fate of the case, the charges, the arrests and the lawsuits, assess the damage suffered by the security of the internal and external state of the country by the fact that the President of the Republic is constitutionally responsible for the country's security, in the event that these statements are corroborated, and seeks to examine the reasons for the silence of the presidency of the republic on this case which constitutes a humiliation to the Tunisian state if the declarations of Besaies are simple assertions made within the framework of the political contreversy ".
Ben Frej noted that "the presidency of the republic has not denied any denial or comment on this case despite its gravity", saying that the deputies of his parliamentary bloc are waiting for a response from the services of the presidency and the Ministry of Justice before asking the public prosecutor's office to open an investigation and assume responsibility. "
Borhene Besaies said on his Facebook account, on February 8, that "there is a will to ignore the file on a judicial inquiry into a foreign intelligence network of a high degree of seriousness published by a daily newspaper ". "This is a real political earthquake, more serious than any other question currently asked," he said.
According to the director of political affairs of Nidaa Tounes, "the head of the network is a French businessman who infiltrated high levels of power in Tunisia from 2011 to 2017 and was able to enlist high-level political figures and a adviser of the entourage of the former president Moncef Marzouki, another adviser and a political activist as well as other personalities close to president Caid Essebsi, besides a list of high officials in the different ministries and active figures in the parties and national organisations ".
In this case, the spokesperson of the judiciary, economic and financial Centre, Sofiene Selliti told TAP agency that "three people have been arrested in this case or are involved foreigners and Tunisians involved in financial crimes and bribes ". He reported on the arrest of a deputy director of the Ministry of State Property, an advisor to the Minister of Health and the issuing of an arrest warrant against a Ministry of Tourism executive.
The ban on travel in this case affected the six people involved in the investigation, including a French and economic expert Moez Joudi, he said.
The investigating judge at the economic and financial centre also summoned the former president's adviser of Moncef Marzouki, Aziz Kirchen, the General Secretary of the Machrou Tounes Movement, Mohsen Marzouk and the deputy general secretary of the General Tunisian Labour Union (UGTT), Bouali M'barki as witnesses in this case.
"This case is not a matter of espionage or conspiracy," said the spokesman, in response to rumors circulating about it.
The daily "Al-Chourouk" published a two-part investigation under the title "spy scandal in Tunisia ... ministers, political party leaders, bank directors and a former director general of customs involved in an espionage network led by a French businessman ".
https://www.tap.info.tn/en/Portal-Politics/9967940-case-of-spying-and
