Tunisian Interior Minister admits to eavesdropping

Tunisian interior minister Ali el-Arid on Tuesday admitted to hacking into the phones of a number of citizens to listen in to their conversations. The minister confirmed by saying: "Yes, the interior ministry is eavesdropping on the phones of suspected people." Following his participation in a seminar entitled “On the Reform of the Security System: From the Revolution to the Democratic Transition”, organised by the Centre of Islam and Democracy, El-Arid emphasised that eavesdropping on phone calls was only targeted at those suspected of involvement in criminal acts or those who posed a threat to the security of the state and its citizens. Some representatives of the Tunisian constituent assembly have previously raised the issue of surveillance and wiretapping on phones - warning of the re-production of the same practices from the previous era. The legislators sent a written message for the minister saying: "Did you know that US President Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office because of he eavesdropped on his Democratic opponents? We want to know all the information related to eavesdropping on the legislator’s calls. We want to know if this has existed for a while and whether it includes members of the executive office of the General Union of Tunisian Workers and Journalists", but el-Arid stressed that his ministry is not eavesdropping on any citizen unless it had obtained judicial permits.