Tunisian Judiciary Accuses Ghannouchi of Attacking State Security

Tunisia’s Ennahdha party leader Rached Ghannouchi, EPA
Tunisia’s Ennahdha party leader Rached Ghannouchi, EPA
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Tunisian Judiciary Accuses Ghannouchi of Attacking State Security

Tunisia’s Ennahdha party leader Rached Ghannouchi, EPA
Tunisia’s Ennahdha party leader Rached Ghannouchi, EPA

Fatima Bouqtaya, spokeswoman for the court in the Tunis suburb of Ariana, said that the charges facing Rached Ghannouchi, the speaker of Tunisia’s now-dissolved parliament, involve breaching and attacking state security.

The Tunisian court has imposed a travel ban on Ghannouchi and 33 other individuals as part of an inquiry into alleged obstruction of justice in connection with the assassination in 2013 of two left-wing figures.

Ghannouchi heads Ennahdha party, which has dominated Tunisia’s post-revolution politics.

Tunisia’s judiciary in January opened an investigation against the suspects for allegedly “concealing information” linked to the killing nine years ago of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi.

Belaid and Brahmi’s defense team held a press conference entitled: “Updates of the file of Ennahdha movement’s secret apparatus.”

At the conference, the defense team revealed new data concerning political assassinations in which the leaders of the Ennahdha movement are accused of involvement.

In this regard, Iman Qazara, a member of the defense team, said that Ghannouchi has been formally charged “for crimes related to attacks on state security.”

“We are facing a party that has been implicated in crimes that affect state security,” she said.

Reda Al-Radawi, one of the defense team’s lawyers, said that Judge Bashir Al-Akrami “played the largest role in manipulating the file of the secret apparatus of the Ennahdha movement, by deliberately concealing the truth, forging documents, and misrepresenting the content of the death of Kamal Al-Quddhi, the main suspect in the assassination of Brahmi.

“We are noticing very dangerous signs these days, which will have very negative repercussions on democratic practice and on social peace,” said Noureddine al-Taboubi, the head of the Tunisian General Labor Union.

Observers believe that the main dispute is no longer exclusive to the leaders of the Ennahdha movement and President Kais Saied.

Rather, the pressure shifted heavily to the Labor Union, which refuses to participate in a dialogue in which the rest of the political parties and civil society organizations do not participate.

Ghannouchi, 81, is a fierce critic of Saied who in July 2021 suspended the Ennahdha-dominated parliament, sacked the prime minister and assumed executive powers.

Saied then dissolved parliament in March this year. His moves have stoked fears of a return to autocracy in a country where a revolution in 2011 triggered the pro-democracy Arab Spring movement in the wider region.



Germany’s Merz Announces Gaza Aid Airlift, Mulls Upping Ante on Israel

 28 July 2025, Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at a press conference at the Federal Chancellery, after the Security Cabinet meeting on the conflicts in the Middle East. (dpa)
28 July 2025, Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at a press conference at the Federal Chancellery, after the Security Cabinet meeting on the conflicts in the Middle East. (dpa)
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Germany’s Merz Announces Gaza Aid Airlift, Mulls Upping Ante on Israel

 28 July 2025, Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at a press conference at the Federal Chancellery, after the Security Cabinet meeting on the conflicts in the Middle East. (dpa)
28 July 2025, Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at a press conference at the Federal Chancellery, after the Security Cabinet meeting on the conflicts in the Middle East. (dpa)

Germany will immediately launch an airlift to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza as it considers stepping up pressure on Israel over the "catastrophic" situation in the enclave, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday.

As the death toll from almost two years of war in Gaza nears 60,000, a growing number of people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and fueling international criticism of Israel over sharply worsening conditions.

Germany, together with the United States, has long remained one of Israel's staunchest allies and largest arms suppliers.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday many people were starving in the enclave, contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who denied there was starvation there.

The German security cabinet convened for more than two hours on Monday to discuss the situation, Merz told a news conference in Berlin. While it welcomed Israel's announcement of a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza as an "important first step", it agreed more must follow.

Asked if the council discussed sanctions like suspending the EU pact governing relations with Israel, a move Germany has in the past rejected, Merz said the council had discussed what options were available.

"We are keeping such steps on the table," he said.

Before making any decisions, however, he would try to speak with Netanyahu later on Monday and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul would travel to the region on Thursday, possibly together with his British and French counterparts. The German government would then reassess the situation over the weekend.

In the meantime, Berlin would do what it could to help alleviate the humanitarian situation, launching an airlift in cooperation with Jordan to deliver aid into Gaza.

"Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will closely coordinate with France and the UK, who are also willing to provide such an airlift for food and medical supplies," he said.

"We know that this can only provide very limited help for the people in Gaza, but it is nonetheless a contribution we are eager to make."

Germany would also prepare for a Gaza reconstruction conference in coordination with regional partners, Britain and France, he said. "No further expulsions from the Gaza Strip must occur."

German officials say their approach to Israel is governed by a special responsibility, known as the Staatsraison, arising from the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust.

They have long believed they can achieve more through diplomatic back channels than public statements. But Merz has come under growing pressure in recent weeks, including from within his own coalition, to take a firmer stance on Israel, and faced broad criticism for failing to join a statement last week by dozens of Western nations condemning the "inhumane killing" of Palestinians.