Latest news with #TarekAmara
Zawya
15-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Tunisia's economy grew by 1.6% in first quarter of 2025
Tunisia's economy grew by 1.6% year on year in the first quarter of 2025, driven by the growth of the agricultural sector, the country's statistics institute said on Thursday. The agricultural sector grew by 7% as a result of rainfall following a six-year drought. During the first quarter of last year, economic growth did not exceed 0.3%. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
Zawya
28-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Algerian state bank BNA doubles its capital to $2.27bln
Algerian state bank BNA said on Monday it had doubled its capital to $2.27 billion to enhance its capacity to finance the national economy. Social capital was increased to 300 billion Algerian dinars from 150 billion dinars, representing a 100% increase. The bank said in statement that this was part of its "strategy to strengthen its financial capabilities and support the financing of the national economy." ($1 = 131.8478 Algerian dinars) (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tunisia hands jail terms ranging from 13 to 66 years to opposition figures
TUNIS (Reuters) - A Tunisian court handed jail terms ranging from 13 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring against state security, TAP state news agency said. (Reporting By Tarek Amara and Menna Ala Eddine; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opposition protests as Tunisia resumes mass conspiracy trial
By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Scores of opposition supporters protested outside a Tunis court on Friday at the resumption of a trial of more than 40 politicians and other figures accused of conspiring against the state and President Kais Saied. Journalists also rallied against orders barring them from the trial which campaign groups including Human Rights Watch have said amounts to a crackdown on dissent - an accusation dismissed by the government. Some of the country's most prominent opposition politicians - including Nejib Chebbi, the leader of the main National Salvation Front opposition coalition - face a range of conspiracy charges in the trial that started in March and has been postponed twice. More than 20 other people have fled abroad since being charged. "The authorities want to criminalize the opposition. I wouldn't be surprised if heavy sentences are issued tonight," Chebbi told reporters before going into the court. Authorities say the defendants, who also include business people and former officials including the former head of intelligence, Kamel Guizani, tried to destabilize the country and overthrow Saied. Rights groups say the trial highlights Saied's full control over the judiciary since he dissolved parliament in 2021 and then the independent Supreme Judicial Council. Activists and families of the defendants shouted "free the prisoners", "stop the farce" and other slogans. "This authoritarian regime has nothing to offer Tunisians except more repression," the leader of the opposition Workers' Party, Hamma Hammami, said. Some of the opposition defendants - including Ghazi Chaouachi, Issam Chebbi, Jawahar Ben Mbrak, Abdelhamid Jlassi, Ridha Belhaj and Khyam Turki - have been in custody since being detained in 2023.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Human Rights Watch says arbitrary detention used to crush dissent in Tunisia
By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday arbitrary detention was being used to eliminate dissent in Tunisia and called on its government to halt the crackdown and free all detainees, amid a trial of prominent opposition figures on conspiracy charges. An HRW report reinforced opposition leaders' concern over what they call the authoritarian rule of President Kais Saied since he dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, asserting control over the judiciary. The opposition described Saied's move as a coup. He has denied such accusations, vowing he would not become a dictator but rather is trying to rescue the North African country from political chaos and rampant corruption. The report by New York-based HRW said the Tunis government had turned arbitrary detention into a cornerstone of repressive policy. "Saied's government has returned the country to an era of political prisoners, robbing Tunisians of hard-won civil liberties,' said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at HRW. Government officials did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Since 2023 authorities have arrested dozens of prominent political opposition figures as well as journalists, activists, and lawyers in a crackdown critics say has undermined the democracy gained in the 2011 Arab Spring popular 40 people including high-profile politicians, business figures and journalists face charges of conspiring against state security. The third session of their trial will be held on Friday. They have all denied wrongdoing. Saied said in 2023 that the accused were "traitors and terrorists" and that judges who had acquitted them in previous trials were their accomplices. Most Tunisian political party leaders are in prison including Abir Moussi of the Free Constitutional Party and Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Islamist Ennahda party, two of Saied's most prominent opponents.
