On Thursday, a Tunisian judge handed a three-year prison sentence to Rached Ghannouchi, an opposition leader and vocal critic of President Kais Saied, citing charges of accepting external financing, as reported by his lawyer Monia Bouali.
Ghannouchi, 82, leader of the Ennahda main opposition party, has been incarcerated since April and previously received a one-year prison term last year for incitement against the police.
The court also sentenced Ghannouchi’s son-in-law, Rafik Abdessalem, a senior Ennahda official, to three years in prison in the same case, along with imposing a $1.1 million fine on the Islamist party.
Last year, Tunisian authorities prohibited meetings at all Ennahda offices, and the headquarters of the main opposition coalition, the Salvation Front, were closed, leading to accusations of a de facto ban by rights groups.
Various opposition figures, claiming President Saied orchestrated a coup that dismantled the democracy established after the 2011 revolution, have been detained since last year on suspicions of plotting against state security.
President Saied’s actions in shutting down parliament, dismissing the government, ruling by decree, and rewriting the constitution have sparked controversy.
He defends these measures as necessary to save Tunisia from prolonged chaos, rejecting accusations of authoritarianism from the opposition and human rights groups.
Ghannouchi, formerly in exile before the 2011 revolution that ushered in democracy, served as parliament speaker from the 2019 election until Saied dissolved the chamber in 2021.
Accusations of imprisoning opponents, stifling the press, and controlling the judiciary persist against President Saied, who, in turn, denies these claims, asserting his commitment to combating corruption and rejecting the label of a dictator.
