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Tunisian Opposition Leader Abeer Moussi Faces Serious Charges

Opposition leader Abir Moussi (dpa)
Opposition leader Abir Moussi (dpa)
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Tunisian Opposition Leader Abeer Moussi Faces Serious Charges

Opposition leader Abir Moussi (dpa)
Opposition leader Abir Moussi (dpa)

Tunisian police have detained leader of the opposition Free Destourian Party (PDL) Abeer Moussi for processing personal data, obstructing the right to work, and assault intended to cause chaos, announced lawyer Aroussi Zgir.

Zgir stated Tuesday that assault intended to cause chaos is a serious charge with severe punishment. Under the legal procedures, Moussi will be initially questioned by an investigating judge.

Moussi, a prominent opponent of President Kais Saied, is expected to be brought to court within 48 hours, and an investigation will be opened into her case.

She will also have the chance to present her case in the presence of her fellow lawyers from the Lawyers Association.

PDL member Karim Krifa said that Moussi was moved to a hospital in Bou-Choucha after her health deteriorated.

Krifa mentioned that he had attempted to deliver medication to her at the detention center, but security services rejected the move.

Party leaders have requested the Public Prosecutor to compel the security officials at the barracks to accept the medication offer.

The Free Destourian Party strongly condemned the "serious and arbitrary violations" following the arrest of its leader.

The party demanded her immediate release and denounced the President's control over administrative institutions, undermining the principle of equality among citizens before public facilities and obstructing legal actions.

They also warned against any attempts to fabricate legal reasons to prevent Moussi from participating in the presidential elections.

A few days ago, Moussi announced she was preparing to run in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for the end of 2024.

Immediately after her arrest, Moussi's lawyer Nafaa Laribi claimed she had been "unlawfully detained."

Laribi reported that Moussi had been at the Presidential Palace in Carthage to file a grievance but was then taken to the La Goulette police station, where she was detained.

A Moussi aide said in a video on Facebook that she was "kidnapped" while outside the Carthage Palace.

In front of the police station, dozens of angry Moussi supporters protested, shouting slogans against Saied amid a heavy presence by police that cordoned off the building.

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US Military Shows Reporters Pier Project in Gaza as It Takes Another Stab at Aid Delivery 

An American boat carrying American soldiers and journalist sails near the Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
An American boat carrying American soldiers and journalist sails near the Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Military Shows Reporters Pier Project in Gaza as It Takes Another Stab at Aid Delivery 

An American boat carrying American soldiers and journalist sails near the Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)
An American boat carrying American soldiers and journalist sails near the Trident Pier, a temporary pier to deliver aid, off the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Gaza coast, June 25, 2024. (Reuters)

With US soldiers within shouting distance of Gaza's bombed-out coast, the American military is taking another stab at delivering aid to hungry Palestinians by sea.

After several fits and starts, a $230 million pier is up and running again. The US military invited reporters for a tour of it on Tuesday, marking the first time international media has witnessed its operations firsthand.

International journalists have not been allowed to enter Gaza independently since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7.

The project, which first launched in mid-May, resumed operations last week after a recent pause due to rough seas.

As journalists looked on Tuesday, US soldiers with machine guns directed the pier's operations. US vessels carrying trucks loaded with humanitarian aid docked at the pier.

Israeli and Cypriot drivers drove the trucks off the vessels and headed down the 400-meter (437-yard) causeway to the beach, where they unloaded pallets of aid.

The trucks then returned to the vessels to be ferried to large cargo ships and reloaded. The cargo ships travel across the Mediterranean Sea from Cyprus.

Col. Samuel Miller, the commander of a joint task force, US Army 7th Transportation Brigade, said the vessels can ferry aid to the pier at least five times a day.

“Our mission out here is to receive those humanitarian assistance pallets offshore from a larger vessel onto that floating pier,” he said, shouting over waves crashing against the pier. “Over time, we are learning organization and we've gotten better.”

The floating pier was anchored back on Gaza’s shoreline on June 19 after heavy seas and high winds led the military to disconnect it from the beach. In May, similar conditions forced a two-week pause in operations after the pier broke apart and four US Army vessels ran aground, injuring three service members, one critically.

Since coming back online, the pier has been delivering hundreds of pallets of aid a day to the shore, Miller said.

From the pier, Associated Press journalists could see aid piling up against a backdrop of near-total destruction. Israeli army vehicles slowly moved between blown-out buildings along the coast. Tents stood on beaches in the distance.

The US military said about 6,200 metric tons (6,800 tons) of aid have so far been delivered from the project to Gaza’s shore.

While aid from the pier is reaching the beach, it's still difficult to get it to Palestinians in Gaza. The UN World Food Program has suspended aid delivery from the pier due to security concerns after the Israeli military appeared to use the area in a June 8 hostage rescue. Lawlessness around the pier, with hungry Palestinians seizing aid off trucks headed to delivery zones, also is a major concern.

The US launched the project to bring relief to Gaza, where Israel’s military offensive against Hamas has displaced over 80% of the territory’s 2.3 million people and unleashed a humanitarian disaster. International officials say hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine.

UN and other international aid officials have voiced skepticism over the pier, saying its effectiveness is limited and it is no substitute for Israeli-controlled land crossings into the territory.

UN officials told the AP on Tuesday that they are considering suspending all aid operations across Gaza unless steps are taken to better protect humanitarian workers. That would plunge Gaza into an even deeper humanitarian catastrophe.

Palestinians in Gaza are heavily reliant on UN aid, which has only trickled into the territory since Israel's incursion in early May into Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, shut down a major land crossing and slowed deliveries from another major crossing.

Still, the soldiers operating the pier Tuesday were hopeful.

“I talk to my sailors on a daily basis,” said US Navy Capt. Joel Stewart. “They understand that our aid is necessary for the people of Gaza that are suffering under the conditions of war.”