Senior Ennahdha party official held in Tunisia: lawyer

Abdelfattah Taghouti, member of the political bureau of Tunisia's Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha, speaks to journalists after the arrest of the party deputy president, in Tunis on Friday. (AFP)

• Ennahdha condemned the arrest of Noureddine Bhiri as a "dangerous precedent"
• "Plainclothes agents in two cars arrested Noureddine Bhiri when he was leaving home with his wife," Samir Dilou, a lawyer and former legislator, told AFP

TUNIS: Plainclothes officers in Tunisia's capital on Friday arrested a senior official of the Ennahdha party which played a central role in the country's politics until a power grab by President Kais Saied.
Tunisia was the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring revolts of a decade ago but civil society groups and Saied's opponents have expressed fear of a slide back to authoritarianism a decade after the revolution that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Ennahdha condemned the arrest of Noureddine Bhiri, a former justice minister and deputy president of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha, as a "dangerous precedent".
"Plainclothes agents in two cars arrested Noureddine Bhiri when he was leaving home with his wife," Samir Dilou, a lawyer and former legislator, told AFP.
No official was available to explain the reason for Bhiri's arrest.
But in a statement issued late Friday, the interior ministry said it had ordered two people, whom it did not identify, to be placed under house arrest.
This "preventive measure was dictated by the need to safeguard national security," it said, without elaborating.
Saied on July 25 sacked the Ennahdha-supported government and suspended parliament, presenting himself as the ultimate interpreter of the constitution.
He later took steps to rule by decree, and in early December vowed to press on with reforms to the political system.
The former law professor announced an 11-week "popular consultation" to produce "draft constitutional and other reforms" ahead of a referendum set for July 25.
His opponents have denounced a "coup" and warned against what they see as Saied's wish to settle scores with those he has called "enemies" but never names.
A Tunisian court last week sentenced in absentia exiled former president Moncef Marzouki, a fierce critic of Saied, to four years in prison.
Bhiri was "arrested brutally and taken to an unknown destination", Dilou said.
Agents also seized the mobile phone of Bhiri's wife Saida Akremi, who is a lawyer, he added.
In a statement, Ennahdha said that Bhiri was being questioned by authorities and denounced "a kidnapping and dangerous precedent marking the country's entry into a tunnel to dictatorship."
Party official Mohamed Goumani told a press conference that Saied and the interior minister "bear responsibility" and decried the "intimidation" of those opposed to the president's moves.
Ennahdha was the largest party in the parliament suspended by Saied.
But political rivalries had blocked ministerial appointments and diverted resources from tackling Tunisia's mounting economic and social problems, leading many in the country to initially welcome the president's power grab.
Without commenting on Bhiri's arrest, the presidency on Friday announced a New Year's amnesty for 1,300 prisoners.