Tunisia – Investigation opened into leaked recordings attributed to Nadia Akacha

The Tunisian Public Prosecution referred, on Wednesday, the audio recordings attributed to the former director of the Presidential Office, Nadia Akacha, to the technical committees for examination and verification.

According to the statement of the Court of First Instance of Tunis, the Public Prosecution of the court took this decision with a view to disclosing the content of the leaks, and the ensuing reactions, directly or indirectly, and with a view to verifying their authenticity, circumstances and content, and to arranging legal effects thereon.

The court added that the public prosecution reviewed the content of these audio recordings as of today, Wednesday, and is still looking into the incident.

Late last month, Brotherhood-affiliated pages circulated on social media an audio recording attributed to Nadia Akacha, a name attributed to President Kais Saied.

Among the fabricated recordings published by extremist Muslim Brotherhood MP Rached Khiari, Nadia Akacha mocks the President of Tunisia and describes him as “scared” during his visit to France and meeting with President Macron.

Akacha also posted a post on her Facebook account where she wrote, “After a campaign of mutilation, we turn to synthesizing voices”.

Former official Nadia Akacha resigned in January 2022 and left Tunisia to live in Paris.

In subsequent statements, the Director of the Presidential Office announced that she had been subjected to distortion and pressure during her work, and that she was committed to a duty of restraint in relation to the reasons for her resignation.

Akacha was described as the “black box” and “the secret holder” of the president’s secrets, after she took part in the most prominent stages of his political project from her entry into the Carthage Palace in 2019 until the realization of the measures of July 25, 2021, to remove the Brotherhood from power and freeze their parliament.

Former Tunisian Minister of State Hatim Al-Ashi said that “the parties and organizations that were hurt by the July 25 measures – a reference to the Brotherhood – reached the last stage, which is the leaks”.

Commenting on the leaks, he said in media statements that “those who want to discredit the President of the Republic have found nothing against him and have turned to leaks”.

Al-Ashi called on the Tunisian Prosecution to open an investigation into these leaks, as they affect the national security of Tunisia.

He continued: “The struggle has become hectic and has reached the point of madness to overthrow the President of the Republic and what is happening is a miracle”, he said, adding: “Inside and outside campaigns are raging against Kais Saied”.

The dean of the lawyers, Ibrahim Bouderbala, said that “anyone who bears responsibility in the Tunisian state must know its controls and remain silent when he leaves the place”.

“The public prosecutor’s office or the military prosecutor’s office has full authority to initiate public action, especially when it comes to national security”, he said.

Bouderbala continued: “Everyone is innocent until proven guilty by a trial in which he is guaranteed the rights of the defense”.