Tunisia’s Ennahdha party slams lengthy jail term for leader
Tunisia’s opposition Ennahdha party has slammed a court sentencing its leader Rached Ghannouchi to an additional 22 years in prison, saying the charges were “a blatant assault on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and a blatant politicisation of its procedures and rulings”.
Ennahdha issued a statement on Thursday saying the proceedings were marred by “innumerable violations” and the case against Ghannouchi was “nothing more than a political trial”.
It added that they were reminiscent of “a period that people sought to leave behind through their revolution” in a reference to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in popular protests that triggered the 2011 Arab Spring.
Ghannouchi was arrested in April 2023 and sentenced to one year in prison on charges of incitement. The 83-year-old has been the main rival of President Kais Saied.
Last week, he was sentenced to three years in prison over accusations that his party received foreign contributions. Ennahdha, which rejected the allegations, was fined $1.1m.
A court on Wednesday sentenced him to an additional 22 years in prison on charges that included “plotting against state security”.
Ahmed Gaaloul, an adviser to Ghannouchi and a former Tunisian minister, told Al Jazeera the party was expecting even harsher sentences to be handed out in the coming months.
“Saied needs a propaganda tool” at a time of deep economic crisis, Gaaloul said. “His discourse is that he’s bringing back the people’s wealth, that he is strong, but this has nothing to do with justice.”
He said Ennahdha would continue to challenge the proceedings in international courts. Ghannouchi, who Gaaloul said remains in good spirits despite not receiving sufficient medical attention while in prison, is refusing to appear before a judge in Tunisia to protest against the absence of an independent judiciary.
Gaaloul said Saied’s government was being backed by countries that have “security and stability” in Tunisia as their top interest rather than democracy. “This did not work in the ‘80s and the ‘90s, and it will not work in this case,” he told Al Jazeera.
The court also issued sentences on Wednesday for several other figures from the Ennahdha party, including former Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, who received 35 years.
Mechichi has been living abroad since 2021, a few months after Saied sacked him and shut down the elected parliament in a move the opposition described as a “coup”. —Aljazzera
