Tunisia: Ennahda leader sentenced to one year in prison

A Tunisian court has sentenced the leader of the opposition Ennahda party and critic of President Kais Saied to one year in prison on terrorism-related charges.

The judge pronounced the sentence on Monday May 15 against Rached Ghannouchi, 81, who is one of more than 20 opponents of Saïed, including former ministers and businessmen, arrested since February.

His summons followed a complaint filed by a police union accusing him of inciting Tunisians to kill each other. In question, a speech dating back to the beginning of 2022, during the funeral of another leader of Ennahdha, during which he claimed that the deceased "did not fear a leader or a tyrant, he only feared God".

Ghannouchi also faces charges of plotting against state security along with other detained opposition figures, all of whom accuse Saïed of staging a coup to shut down the elected parliament and deciding to rule by decree.

He was arrested on April 17 when Tunisian police raided his home in the capital Tunis. The arrest came after Ghannouchi appeared in court in late February on terrorism-related charges after he was accused of calling police officers "tyrants".

The Ennahda party was the largest faction in Tunisia's parliament before Saïed dissolved the chamber in July 2021.Tunisia's president, who enshrined his new powers in a constitution he pushed through a referendum last year, says those detained are "terrorists" involved in a "conspiracy against state security".

Ghannouchi has so far refused to appear before judges in court cases, arguing the charges against him are fabricated, his lawyer Monia Bouali said.