Tunisian security forces raided on Wednesday the headquarters of the Al-Zitouna Muslim Brotherhood channel and implemented a decision to close it and stop satellite broadcasting due to working without a license.

The closure decision was issued four years ago and was disrupted by Ennahdha, the Muslim Brotherhood movement that controlled the country, because the founder of the channel was the Muslim Brotherhood leader Oussama ben Salem, son of the Brotherhood and former minister Moncef Ben Salem.

The decision to shut down Zitouna was made in 2017 because it did not obtain the necessary licenses and did not disclose its funding sources.

Zitouna had political backing from Ennahdha in the past and did not provide any financial disclosure, which means there was collusion, said Nouri Lajmi, head of Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Audiovisual Communication.

He continued, “But today Tunisia is witnessing a revolution against corruption, and there is a political trend that works to support this trend.”

The decision was supported by Tunisians, who considered it an implementation of the law because it is “a channel accused of disobedience”. It also silences a Brotherhood group that incites sedition and mobilizes the Tunisian street in order to return to power.

“The Zitouna Brotherhood channel is a rogue channel that opposed the law in the time of Fatwa and bullying against the Tunisian state,” said Tunisian lawyer Yassine Azaza, referring to the Brotherhood’s rule.

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On his official Facebook page, he called for the law to be applied to everyone and said there was no room for silence on such policies.

Naziha Rejeba, a political activist in Tunisia, said, “We hope that this decision will be made public on other television and radio channels that do not have legal work permits.”

“These channels operate as trumpets for sedition and propaganda and are able to force the state with suspicious funds,” she said.

Tunisian journalist Mohamed Hadj Mansour said, “Closing the Muslim Brotherhood channel is just a push on the account.”

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“Shutting down Zitouna channel and directing the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication to issue a final warning about the immediate closure of the broadcast before the equipment is confiscated for the Brotherhood’s media channels, Nessma and Hannibal, is a step forward,” he said in a Facebook post.

The High Authority for Audiovisual Communication called on media organizations that do not have broadcasting licenses in Tunisia to enter the legal system and apply the regulations contained in Decree 116 or stop broadcasting voluntarily, to distance themselves from the legal procedures and closure.