Tunisia's Ghannouchi refuses to leave prison to appear before court

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 May 00:22

The head of the Ennahda Movement, Rashid Ghannouchi, refuses to leave his prison in Mornaguia, and refuses to appear before the investigative judge of the Court of First Instance.

Leader of the Ennahdha party Rached Ghannouchi arrives at a police station I Tunis, Tuesday, Feb.21, 2023. (AP)

The head of the Ennahda movement, Rached Ghannouchi, refused to leave his prison in Mornaguia, on Tuesday and refused to appear before the investigating judge of the First Instance Court in Sousse 2, on the grounds of what is known as the Instalingo case.

The case dates back to October 2021, when the authorities arrested employees of the company on several charges, including committing a grave offense as well as and conspiring against internal state security, and espionage.

The investigative judge in the second office, who was in charge of the file, issued a release for Ghannouchi from the detention center in Mornaguia prison, in order to allow him to come to his interrogation, however, Ghannouchi refused to leave the prison.

In his comment, upon being informed of the decision, Ghannouchi said, "The authority is practicing political targeting through judicial means," adding that "the battle in Tunisia is between democracy and a dictatorship, which wants to confiscate the gains of the revolution."

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

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

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

Following Ghannouchi's arrest on the night April 17 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."

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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.