postponed to this Tuesday, the hearing of the Ennahda party leader follows that of former Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh.
Le Monde with AFP
In Tunisia, national research unit in terrorist crimes has decided to postpone the hearing of Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist Inspiration Party Ennahda, summoned with ex-Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh for a case in Link with the sending of jihadists to Syria and Iraq. “After more than twelve hours of waiting, Mr. Ghannouchi was not heard by this unit, who decided to postpone the interrogation to Tuesday at noon,” his lawyer told AFP, Samir Dilou.
m. Laarayedh, one of the leaders of Ennahda, who was questioned on Monday “for hours”, is still maintained by the research unit in terrorist crimes, according to M e dilou and a correspondent AFP on site. In a statement published on the night of Monday to Tuesday, the Ennahda party denounced “the conditions for an interrogation […] which represent a blatant violation against human rights”.
After the fall of the dictatorship of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, in 2011, thousands of Tunisians had joined the ranks of jihadist organizations, notably the Islamic State group (IS), Iraq, Syria and Libya . The Ennahda party, a pillar of governments that have succeeded in power since 2011, is suspected by its detractors and part of the political class to have facilitated the departure of these jihadists towards the conflict zones, which the movement categorically denies.
The black beast of Kaïs Saïed
The so -called “jihadist expedition” affair, which was at the heart of the political debate for years, has resurfaced in recent weeks in Tunisia, where President Kaïs Saïed, of which Ennahda is the black beast, considerably strengthened his supervision on justice after having arranged the full powers in 2021. Mr. Saïed then dismissed the government and dissolved the Parliament, dominated by Ennahda, before having adopted in July, during a referendum largely boycotted by the population, a new constitution establishing a hyperpreterlying system qualified as autocratic by the opposition.
m. Ghannouchi, 81, who directed the Parliament dissolved by Mr. Saïed, had already been questioned in July as part of an investigation for suspicions of corruption and money laundering linked to transfers from abroad to a charity organization affiliated with Ennahda. The party warned in a statement published on Sunday against “attempts at the putschist power to instrumentalize justice to tarnish its opponents and involve them in manufactured cases”. He said that the hearing of his leaders was “a diversion aimed at diverting public opinion from economic and social concerns and the deterioration of living conditions”.