Tunisia club shut for using call to prayer during party

By Ali al-Tarablusi

NABEUL, Tunisia (AA) - The governor of Tunisia's coastal Nabeul province Tuesday vowed to take “deterrent measures” against cafes and nightclubs that “blatantly violate modesty” and “fail to respect religious sentiments”.

Nabeul Governor Mnaouar Ouertani made the remarks after local officials Monday shut down a nightclub -- located in the nearby resort city of Al-Hammamet -- for playing music during a dance party that featured the Muslim call to prayer (adhan).

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ouertani -- who ordered the nightclub closed and its manager arrested -- said that “all necessary measures will be taken to deter other cafes and nightclubs from committing the same offense”.

“Violators,” he warned, “will face severe penalties.”

The nightclub’s manager, he went on, “was arrested on charges of offending public morality and showing a lack of respect for religious sentiments.”

He went on to assert that two foreign DJs -- one from Sweden and one from the U.K. -- had been responsible for playing music at the club at the time of the incident.

"All cafe and nightclub owners in the province will be summoned by security agents today and made to comply with the law [against offending public morality]," Ouertani asserted.

Video footage of the party in which the alleged incident occurred has since prompted an outcry on Tunisian social media.

In the footage, a DJ can be seen working a record console as young people dance to electronic music mixed with the sound of the Muslim call to prayer.