Tunis, Feb 6, (dpa/GNA) – A Tunisian court on Wednesday, sentenced the head of the country’s opposition Islamist Ennahda movement, Rached Ghannouchi, to 22 years in prison, on charges of conspiring against state security, defence lawyers said.
Ghannouchi, 83, previously served as speaker of Tunisia’s parliament, and is an outspoken critic of incumbent President Kais Saied.
Ghannouchi was arrested in 2023, and has since been in detention.
The court on Wednesday also handed down a 35-year jail sentence to former prime minister Hichem Mechichi, in the same case that involves nearly 40 people, the lawyers added.
Mechichi, who has left the country, was tried in absentia.
Varying jail terms were also issued against other defendants, including Ghannouchi’s two children, a brother-in-law, journalists and bloggers.
The rulings can be appealed.
In 2021, Saied consolidated his power by dissolving the parliament that was dominated by Ennahda, and sacked Mechichi from his post as prime minister, steps that the opposition called a “coup.”
Saied’s moves led to a new, significantly weakened representative body.
Saied, an ex-law professor, also held a constitutional referendum, which granted him wider powers. In October last year, he won a second term in office.
GNA