Ghannouchi's Ennahda offices shut down a day after his arrest

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen Net
18 Apr 2023 18:18

The Tunisia Interior Minister says the party's meetings are banned as well.

Tunisia's Rached Ghannouchi, head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda and speaker of the parliament, attends an interview with Reuters in Tunis, Tunisia, March 31, 2022. (Reuters)

A day following the arrest of Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi, Tunisian authorities shut down the party's offices, local media reported on Tuesday.

The Tunisian Interior Minister also announced a ban on meetings in Ennahda and National Salvation Front centers.

Following Ghannouchi's arrest last night from his home in Tunis, the Ennahda Movement in Tunisia issued a statement calling for his "immediate release" and called on authorities to stop oppressing "opposition political activists."

In a statement, the Ennahda movement called on "all free people to stand united in the face of these oppressive practices, which violate liberties, and honor of opposition activists."

Former speaker of parliament Ghannouchi "will be subjected to investigations case related to inflammatory [subversive] statements he made," a source affiliated with the Ministry said following the arrest.

Up until President Kais Saied dissolved it in 2021, Ennahdha was the largest party in parliament.

"A police unit showed up at the party's main headquarters (in Tunis) and ordered everyone there to leave before closing it," Riadh Chaibi, a party official, told AFP.

"The police also closed the other offices of the party elsewhere in the country and prohibited any meeting in these premises."

In 2017, Tunisia formed a parliamentary committee to investigate the networks that were involved in recruiting and sending Tunisian youth to fight in Syria and Iraq alongside terrorist groups, such as ISIS and Al-Nusra, among others.

In June 2022, the Tunisian judiciary officially charged 33 people with belonging to terrorist organizations, including Ghannouchi.

In a Tuesday address on the anniversary of establishing the interior security forces, Saied said the individuals detained are "terrorists" who are involved in a "conspiracy against state security."

Saied also called on the judiciary to "fulfill its role in this phase the country is going through."

"We are waging a merciless war against those who seek to undermine the state and its institutions," he said without referring to any particular entity or individual.