Release of Islamists from Tunisian prisons sparks controversy

12/11/2008

Twenty-one Islamists were released from prison in Tunisia on Sunday. Some had been serving life sentences since 1991. Some experts believe this will close the book on political Islam, but others disagree.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 12/11/08

[Getty Images] The decision by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to release 21 Islamists from prison has sparked controversy in Tunisia.

The decision by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to release 21 Islamists from prison on Sunday (November 7th), on the 21st anniversary of his coming to power, has sparked controversy in Tunisia. Some consider the move a humanitarian gesture while others worry it may have political consequences.

Eight of the released prisoners are leaders of the Ennahda movement, which is banned from participation in Tunisian politics. The leaders were charged with perpetrating violent acts and membership in a banned organization. They were the last group of Ennahda members still imprisoned; some were sentenced to life back in 1991.

Although an official with the Tunisian judiciary told reporters that the release depended on certain conditions, the president of Ennahda disagreed.

"Our release from prison was not made in return for anything," Sadok Chourou told the website islamonline.com. "Rather, it was a commendable initiative from the regime that we hope will be followed by other steps towards the removal of the security siege that has been imposed on the movement for several years now."

Analysts worry that the initiative will be interpreted as recognition of a religious-political group, a mix some Tunisian experts say is not accepted by most Tunisians.

"It's certainly a humanitarian move," said political analyst Borhane Besais.

Besais said there have always been interpretations following the release of Ennahda prisoners, but this time it "will not be followed by other political moves."

"What is sure in Tunisia is the decisive rejection of any religious organisation or entity becoming an active force in society and politics," he said.

Chourou, however, said that it "doesn't mean that the group is unable to restore its presence and its positions in the street and with the internal and external public opinion."

"I believe that it's now trying to restore these positions and reclaim its true presence on the Tunisian street and in civil society in general," he said.

Even inside prisons, Islamist prisoners were separated from the rest of the prisoners, for fear of influence and attempts by Islamists to recruit more people.

But Professor Sami Nasr, who prepared a scientific study on prisoners' lives in Tunisia, downplayed the possibility of such a spread of ideology to other inmates.

"Islamist prisoners don't trust other prisoners," he said. "They spend most of their time trying to enhance their religious knowledge in terms of recitation of the Qur'an, discussion of issues of fiqh, analysis of articles in the newspapers they receive from the prison, which are mostly pro-government newspapers."

The issue of political Islam is more complicated in Tunisia, however. Experts say there are more prisoners of religious background in Tunisian prisons and that the issue remains delicate.

The release of the 21 Islamists doesn't necessarily mean that the file has been closed once and for all, said Salah Zghidi, founding member of the Association for the Defence of Secularism.

"We must not forget that the there are scores of Islamists who have been detained for a year or more in Tunisian prisons on charges of having affiliations with al Qaeda-linked terror Islamist networks," Zghidi said.

Adel Chaouch, an MP representing the leftist Attajdid Movement, also believes that Islamists' intervention in politics will not vanish overnight.

"This will not happen anywhere in the world today or tomorrow," Chaouch said. "It's a political, social and economic phenomenon. The proponents of enlightenment are required to try to isolate the phenomenon and to alleviate as much as possible its spread in society."