Reuters, TUNIS, May 12 – Tunisia’s interior ministry disputed former Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali’s arrest on Thursday, contradicting a report from his previous party and a post on his official Facebook page.

Jebali was detained, according to the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which requested his release and accused the authorities of cracking down on dissent.

The 73-year-Facebook old’s page also stated that he had been detained, but did not specify when or provide any other information.

Jebali has not been apprehended, according to the interior ministry. Prosecutors had opened an inquiry into a factory on land owned by Jebali’s wife, according to the statement, and he had insisted on accompanying her to the police station.

Jebali did not reply to phone calls seeking comment right away.

Before President Kais Saied dissolved the assembly and assumed executive authority last year, Ennahda was the largest party in Tunisia’s parliament.

The president’s move was dubbed a coup by the opposition party and others. The move, according to Saied, was necessary to save Tunisia from a corrupt, self-serving elite.