25/07/2013 President
Strasbourg, 25.07.2013 – “It was with dismay and concern that I heard of the murder of Tunisian politician and former leader of the ‘Movement of the People’ opposition party, Mohamed Brahmi, who was assassinated in Tunis today,” said Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
“I most strongly condemn this crime. Following the death last February of Tunisian opposition politician Chokri Belaid, this murder marks the crossing of a new threshold in the use of political violence in Tunisia, and is clearly intended to destabilise the country’s democratic transition process. It comes at a time when Tunisians are striving even harder for a new Constitution based on the universal principles of democracy and human rights.”
“I hope that this violence, which poses a direct threat to the achievements of the January 2011 revolution, will be most firmly dealt with by the authorities, and that all political forces in Tunisia will maintain an open and peaceful democratic dialogue. I should like to reaffirm, on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, my full solidarity with the Tunisian democrats who aspire to new rights for their people. All the necessary measures must be taken to ensure that this crime does not go unpunished and that violence does not prevail,” concluded Mr Mignon.