A number of Tunisian politicians and academicians denounced the statements issued by the Canadian foreign minister and Canadian embassy in Riyadh regarding what they called civil society activists detention in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, describing the Canadian behavior as irresponsible acts of intervention. Dr. Muez Al-Ghiraibi, Head of the Geopolitical Department at the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies, an affiliate of the Tunisian Presidency, denounced, in a statement to SPA, the remarks made by the Canadian foreign minister and the embassy in Riyadh, confirming that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has the right to take whatever measures to preserve its security and stability. He pointed that the international law bars intervention of any country in the domestic affairs of another, describing this behavior from Ottawa as violation of the UN charter. For his part, Dr. Al-Tayeb Balsadeq, Professor of International law at the University of Tunisia, who is also an international arbitrator, confirmed that the Kingdom's decision to recall its ambassador, expel the Canadian ambassador and halt commercial transactions with Canada is a package of sovereign decision, noting that interference or giving viewpoints by a foreign ambassador towards the Kingdom is contrary to international laws and diplomatically unacceptable. For her part, Dr. Hanan Al-Hijlawe, a political writer, said the remarks by the Canadian foreign minister and the Canadian embassy in Riyadh are considered a blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom and a violation of the diplomatic norms, noting that countries who respect themselves build their relations on respect and appreciation and that the most important principle is non-interference in the affairs of others.
