A rare incident in Tunisia... murders
5 prisoners escaped in cases of killing politicians and policemen
Today, Tuesday, 5 prisoners accused of assassinating two prominent secular politicians and killing policemen years ago escaped from the Mornaguia prison near the capital, Tunis, in a rare incident in the country.
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| A rare incident in Tunisia... murders |
The Tunisian Ministry of the Interior, which published the names and photos of the escaped prisoners, called on citizens to contact the police when they see these “dangerous elements” to prevent “acts of terrorism.”
Prisoners escape
The Ministry said in a statement, “It was notified by the administration of the civil prison in Mornaguia (west) of the escape of five dangerous individuals subject to prison sentences, related to terrorist cases, from the aforementioned prison at dawn on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.”
Among the fugitives is Ahmed al-Maliki (44 years old), known as “The Somali,” who has been imprisoned since 2014 and was sentenced to 24 years in prison in the cases of the assassination of prominent secular politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi in 2013.
On February 6, 2013, leftist opposition figure Chokri Belaid was assassinated in the Tunisian capital. Extremist Islamists claimed responsibility for the assassination, which sparked a political crisis.
As for Raed Touati, one of the other fugitives, he is accused of slaughtering a policeman in 2014 in the Chaanbi Mountains, near the Algerian border.
Death sentences
This year, a Tunisian court issued a death sentence against Touati after his arrest in 2019. Security sources say that he was also involved in the “deadliest terrorist attacks” that shook the country in the past decade.
Escapes of dangerous defendants from Tunisian prisons have rarely occurred in recent years.
The Ministry of Interior confirmed that “all security units have been sensitized to the necessity of intensifying search, investigation, and quick and certain inspection with the aim of arresting them as soon as possible. Within the framework of cooperation with the security units and to prevent terrorist acts, the Ministry calls on all citizens, upon seeing them or obtaining any information concerning them, to go to the nearest security unit.” To report them.”
The largest prison in Tunisia
The "Mornaguia Civil Prison" is one of the most important and largest prisons in the country, and contains the most dangerous criminals involved in public rights cases and extremists, as well as political detainees opposed to President Kais Saied.
Since 2012, Tunisia has witnessed a proliferation of activities by armed groups, especially in mountainous areas in the west of the country, which carried out armed operations and targeted dozens of security personnel, soldiers, and tourists.
