Tunisia sentences opposition leader Ghannouchi to a year in prison

NEWS WIRES

15 May 2023 at 3:42 pm·1-min read

A Tunisian court on Monday sentenced Rached Ghannouchi, one of the main opponents of Tunisian President Kais Saied, to a year in prison on terrorism-related charges, local media reported.

Ghannouchi, 81, a former speaker of parliament, was arrested last month over different accusations, part of what Human Rights Watch (HRW) called last week a move "to neutralise the country's largest political party".

He had appeared in court at the end of February on the terror-related charges after being accused of calling police officers "tyrants".

The case is one of several levied by authorities against Ghannouchi, whose Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party was the largest in parliament before Saied dissolved the chamber in July 2021 as part of a power-grab allowing him to rule by decree.

He is among more than 20 of Saied's political opponents and personalities, including former ministers and business figures, arrested since February.

His detention last month, along with the others, drew international concern, including from the European Union which recalled the importance of the "fundamental principle of political pluralism".

(AFP)