Tunisia extends state of emergency citing ‘terror threats’

Tunisia has renewed for three more months the state of emergency which has been in place across the North African state since a deadly Daesh terror attack in 2015.

President Beji Caid Essebsi decided “to extend the state of emergency for three months from 16 February,” the presidential office announced on Thursday.

The extension came despite government assurances of improved security in the country. 

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said to a local radio station that the state of emergency will be “definitively lifted in three months.”

The state of emergency gives special powers to the police and in theory grants authorities the right to prohibit strikes and meetings likely to provoke “disorder.” It also permits authorities “to ensure control of the press.”

Also commenting on the state of emergency, Defense Minister Farhat Horchani said there had been a “major improvement” in the country’s security situation compared to the past.

“But as long as our situation is linked to Libya and as long as Libya does not have a government that is in control of the situation... the threat exists,” he warned.

SS