The interim head of Tunisia’s Ennahda party, Mondher Ounissi, appeared on Tuesday before a counter-terrorism court after his arrest over "suspicious political alliances".
Ounissi was arrested last month following the publication of audio recordings in which he was accused of concluding suspicious political alliances with a Tunisian businessman and of receiving illegal funds.
Ennahda appointed Ounissi as its acting leader on 26 April following the arrest of Ennahda’s leader, Rached Ghannouchi, earlier this year.
Several party officials close to Ghannouchi are accused of money laundering in relation to foreign funding for Ennahda-linked associations and charities and using the money against the ruling authorities.
The Tunisian Judiciary has labeled the arrested individuals as “terrorists” and claimed they were involved in a plot against the security of the state.
In previous comments, Ounissi said in a video on his Facebook page that the recordings were fabricated. He claimed authorities were looking to paralyze Ennahdha, which planned to hold its 11th congress next October.
In the recordings attributed to Ounissi, the Ennahda interim leader accused some officials of his party of seeking to control Ennahda and receiving illegal funds, thus allowing the Public Prosecution Office to open a larger investigation into the recordings.
On Tuesday, Ennahda Party renewed its demand for the release of imprisoned politicians, describing their cases as a “scandal.”
“We urge the closure of these scandalous files,” the party said in a statement, adding that authorities should stop targeting their opponents and speed up the release of political prisoners, mainly Ghannouchi, and Johar bin Mubarak, who entered a hunger strike two weeks ago.
Bin Mubarak entered a hunger strike on Sept. 25-26, and was later followed by Ghannouchi.
His sister, Dalila Mossadegh, confirmed that her brother is suffering from health problems inside the prison. She said his health has deteriorated lately, which forced the prison authorities to transfer him to the Habib Thamer Hospital in the capital.
