Tunisian Ennahda's Ghannouchi sentenced to more jail time
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Ghannouchi, a prominent opponent of President Kais Saied, now faces this lengthy prison term.
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Islamist party leader and parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi speaks during a meeting in Tunis, Tunisia, on Oct. 3, 2019. (AP)
A Tunisian court has issued a series of prison sentences and fines against a group of politicians and media professionals in what is known in media circles as the “Instalingo” case, in reference to a company that produces digital content and exerts political and media influence, in which journalists and politicians, most of whom are from the Ennahda movement, were involved.
One of the most prominent rulings issued was against Rached Ghannouchi, the 83-year-old leader of Tunisia's Islamist opposition party Ennahda, who has been sentenced to an additional 22 years in prison for "plotting against state security," according to his lawyers who called the sentence "harsh" and vowed to appeal.
Former prime minister Hichem Mechichi was sentenced to 35 years and journalist Chahrazed Akacha to 27, both in absentia.
Dozens of people are involved in the case which critics have denounced as political, with 17 already in detention, lawyers said.
Their sentences ranged between five and 37 years in prison.
Last Thursday, Ghannouchi's lawyer confirmed that he was sentenced to a new three-year prison term for the "illegal financing" of his party, his lawyer confirmed.
Ghannouchi -- who was already serving a 15-month prison sentence over charges related to "terrorism" -- was sentenced for receiving "foreign financing" for his party, his lawyer Sami Triki told AFP.
His son-in-law Rafik Abdessalam, a former foreign minister, was tried in absentia in the same case and also sentenced to three years in prison.
In addition to the prison sentences for Ghannouchi and his son-in-law, Ennahda was ordered to pay a fine of $1.17 million. In the previous year, Tunisian authorities prohibited gatherings at all Ennahda offices, and the police closed the headquarters of the Salvation Front, the primary opposition coalition, which rights groups labeled as a de facto ban.
A flashback
The 83-year-old leader of Tunisia's Islamist opposition party Ennahdha was convicted last May and sentenced to 12 months in jail, which was then extended to 15 months on appeal in October.
His conviction followed a complaint from a police union over comments he had made in early 2022 during the funeral of an Ennahda official.
Ghannouchi had said the official "did not fear the powerful nor tyrants", a comment that prosecutors said belittled police officers.
Ghannouchi, whose party dominated Tunisia following the 2011 uprising that toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, is the most well-known opposition figure imprisoned since current President Kais Saied assumed office in July 2021.
Rights groups have since reported a crackdown on opposition figures, including politicians and businessmen.
President Saied abruptly shuttered the parliament, dismissed the government, and assumed rule by decree in July 2021, proceeding to rewrite the constitution that had previously passed through a referendum with a low turnout two years earlier.
Despite assertions from critics characterizing his actions as a coup, Saied has consistently denied such claims, asserting that they were necessary to rescue Tunisia from years of chaos. He has labeled his detractors as "criminals", "traitors", and "terrorists", cautioning that any judge who released them would be deemed as aiding them.
