Imprisoned Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi was urgently transferred from prison to hospital on Thursday after a sharp deterioration in his health, his Ennahda party said.
Ghannouchi, 84, head of the Islamist Ennahda party and former speaker of Tunisia’s parliament, has been detained since 2023 amid a broader crackdown on opposition figures. He is serving prison sentences totaling up to 70 years in cases he says are fabricated. Ghannouchi has refused to appear in court, stating that rulings are predetermined.
In a statement, Ennahda said prison authorities moved him to hospital due to a “serious development” in his condition.
“He was urgently transferred by prison administration after suffering a sharp deterioration in his health, to receive treatment and remain under medical observation,” the party said. It called for his immediate release.
There was no immediate comment from Tunisian authorities contacted by Reuters.
Ghannouchi was speaker of the parliament that President Kais Saied dissolved in 2021. Saied’s shutdown of the elected chamber and subsequent rule by decree were described by the opposition as a coup.
Tunisia, once seen as the only democratic success from the 2011 Arab Spring, has faced growing criticism from international rights groups over restrictions on opponents, media, and civil society.
Over the past three years, leaders of Tunisia’s main opposition parties have been jailed, along with dozens of politicians, journalists, activists, and businessmen, on charges including conspiring against state security, money laundering, and corruption.
Saied has said he will not be a dictator and that freedoms are guaranteed in Tunisia, but that no one is above accountability, regardless of name or position.
