Tunis, April 20, (dpa/GNA) – A Tunisian investigative judge, ordered the imprisonment of the head of the opposition Islamist Ennahda movement, on charges of incitement against state authorities, Ennahda said on Thursday.
Rached Ghannouchi, 81, a former head of Tunisia’s parliament and an outspoken critic of President Kais Saied, was arrested on Monday on charges of incitement.
Ennahda said in an online statement on Thursday that Ghannouchi’s imprisonment was an unfair and politically motivated decision.
Since 2021, Saied, an ex-law professor, has consolidated his power by dissolving the legislature and calling early elections, steps that the opposition called a “coup.”
These moves led to a new, significantly weakened representative body. Saied also held a constitutional referendum, which granted him wider powers.
The North African country has since been in political turmoil amid economic woes.
Ennahda condemned the imprisonment.
“This political decision aims to cover up the abysmal failure of the coup authority in improving citizens social, economic and living conditions and an inability to address a stifling financial crisis that is driving the country to bankruptcy,” Ennahda said.
Ghannouchi was jailed after hours-long questioning over earlier remarks in which he warned that sidelining political Islam or any other political faction could stir up civil war, an Ennahda official said on condition of anonymity.
GNA