Ghannouchi’s arrest: Tunisian power endures

Rached Ghannouchi, 81, head of the Islamic-conservative Ennahda party and former parliamentarian, was arrested on Monday after he said Tunisia would be threatened with “civil war” if left-wing parties or political Islamists like Ennahda were involved. were removed there. He was placed under a committal warrant, his practice announced on Thursday, denouncing “unjust imprisonment”.

Speaking on a private radio station, lawyer Mokhtar Zemai said the trial judge decided to interrogate the Islamist leader for more than nine hours on grounds of inciting civil war.

Tunisia’s main partner, the European Union, Mr. It said on Tuesday it was following “recent developments with great concern” in the country, citing Khannucci’s arrest and the closure of his party’s campuses. The European Union underlined the “fundamental principle of political pluralism”.

For the US, the arrests represent an “alarming escalation”. “The arrest of opponents and critics of the Tunisian government is fundamentally inconsistent with the principles Tunisians have embraced in the constitution, which expressly guarantees freedom of expression, thought and expression,” US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Wednesday.

In a press release issued Wednesday evening, in response to the European reports, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry affirmed that “the laws of the Republic apply to all prosecutors without exception, with all legal guarantees” and that “justice will operate peacefully and peacefully.” Influenced by waves of inappropriate and unacceptable comments”.

“Unacceptable Interference”

These comments, he said, “will only undermine the country’s serious efforts to repair its economic and financial situation under a huge crisis due to bad governance and amateurism in the last decade”. Kannuchi played an important political role. The ministry did not explain the link between the concerns expressed about the rule of law and freedom in the country and its economic situation.

“These communications constitute an unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Tunisia, although the parties are ignorant of the realities of the country”, the Tunisian Ministry added, “reiterating the importance of restarting the Tunisian economy in better conditions. .