Crime team listening to local councillor Menzel Bouzelfa
Judicial investigations continue in Ben Arous over the events at the Menzel Bouzelfa animal protein plant after 20 people were arrested and residents summoned to appear before investigators.
The National Guard's Third Division of Crime Prevention, Ben Arous, began today to hear from local council member Menzel Bouzelfa of the Nabeul Provincial Local Delegation, as part of a judicial investigation into developments related to the project of a plant producing animal protein from blackfly larvae.
The court proceedings included a summons to appear before a crime-fighting squad that included 10 citizens from the area's residents alongside a local council member, in parallel with the detention of 20 people held by the National Guard Center in the area following recent protests.
The Public Prosecutor's Office had authorized the opening of judicial investigations to uncover the circumstances surrounding the death of a protesting citizen following a passing accident near a traffic circle on the night of October 21, 2024, and fireworks inside the headquarters of the industrial facility to determine legal responsibilities.
The reasons for the tension are an open sit-in and protests carried out by local representatives of Menzel Bouzelfa to demand a halt in the activity of the industrial facility, analyzing their movement in its vicinity to residential areas and a local hospital and its damage to the environment, at a time when the activity was subject to administrative decisions and joint inspection committees which decided to withdraw the classification of the institution and request it to stop work according to the rules of the institutions classified as harmful to health.
The proceedings in the present period are directed towards the completion of the hearing and the fulfillment of technical and security investigations, in preparation for the presentation of the results of the lectures to the judiciary for the necessary decisions on follow-up and detainees.
