Africa-Press. Leaders of the Tunisian Ennahda Movement, including its head and former Speaker of the Tunisian Parliament, Rached Ghannouchi, have been sentenced to life imprisonment, according to a local source.
The source reported that the judicial rulings were issued in what is known as the “secret apparatus of the Ennahda Movement” case, by the specialized criminal chamber dealing with terrorism cases at the primary court in Tunisia. The sentences included dozens of former security leaders and Ennahda leaders, most notably Ghannouchi and his deputy Ali Laarayedh, who received a 42-year prison sentence.
The Ennahda Movement had called for Ghannouchi’s immediate release in April, following a deterioration in his health, claiming that he was “arbitrarily detained.”
In this case, which has an “terrorist” nature, 35 defendants appeared, including Ghannouchi and Laarayedh, along with several former security leaders, as well as Mustafa Khadhar, who is implicated in what is known as the “black room” case.
The issue of this case was raised in early 2022 following a complaint filed by the public prosecution and the defense team for politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi, who were assassinated in February and July 2013, respectively.
The defense team for Belaid and Brahmi accused the “secret apparatus of Ennahda” of being involved in their assassinations and of “espionage and infiltrating state institutions.” Some leaders of the movement, led by Ghannouchi, were accused of managing and overseeing this secret apparatus, which the movement denied, considering the accusations to be “politically motivated.”
