A court in Tunis extended the arrest of the leader of the Islamic Ennahda Movement, Rached al-Ghannouchi, for an additional four months.
An Ennahda source told the German news agency (dpa) that the ruling also included two other movement leaders in the case related to statements deemed “incitement against the authority.”
Ghannouchi, 82, and other prominent leaders of the movement, including former Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh, former Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri, opposition politicians, and lawyers have been in prison for about a year for investigation into cases related to terrorism and conspiracy against state security.
This is the second extension of the suspension period approved by the court.
Two rulings were issued in two separate cases against Ghannouchi, the first related to incitement against security, in which he was sentenced to 15 months in prison and a fine of about 300 euros, with him subjected to administrative control for three years.
On February 1, Ghannouchi and his son-in-law, Rafik Abdessalam, were sentenced to three years in prison in the case related to the party receiving foreign funding for its 2019 election campaign.
Abdessalam, a former foreign minister, was tried in absentia in the same case and sentenced to three years.
Ennahda was ordered to pay a fine of $1.17 million.
The movement and opposition factions accuse the ruling authority, headed by President Kais Saied, of fabricating charges against opponents and controlling the judiciary.
Last Thursday, the indictment chamber of the Tunis Court of Appeal rejected all demands for the release of the detained in what is known as the “conspiracy against state security.”
