The leader of the Ennahdha movement, Rached Ghannouchi, will be tried again before the criminal chamber of the court of first instance of Tunis as part of the “discussion circle affair”. However, the courts decided to postpone the examination of the case until December.
This procedure, which led to the arrest of Rached Ghannouchi on the night of April 17, 2023, stems from her declarations on the risk of civil war in the event of exclusion of political forces, particularly Islamists and left-wingers.
“Discussion circle”
These comments, made during a discussion circle organized on April 15, 2023 by the National Salvation Front, were considered by the prosecution as an attack on the internal security of the State, under article 72 of the Penal Code.
Since his arrest, two days after this meeting, the leader of Ennahdha has been involved in several legal cases. He has now served nearly forty years in prison: 22 years in the Instalingo case, 14 years for plotting against state security, 3 years for lobbying and 15 months in the Taghout affair.
Ennahdha leaders also prosecuted
In addition to Ghannouchi, several executives of the Islamist party are referred to justice in this case linked to suspicions of a plot aimed at changing the form of the State. Among them Ahmed Mechergui, chief of staff of Rached Ghannouchi, currently detained, Youssef Ennouri, also in detention, Mohamed Goumani and Belgacem Hassan, pursued at large, while other officials are on the run.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the criminal chamber refused the request for release of one of the accused still in preventive detention, before postponing the trial until December 2025, without setting a precise date.
The defense denounces
In a press release, Rached Ghannouchi’s defense committee announced that the former President of Parliament “maintains his decision to boycott the judicial hearings” due to “the total absence of guarantees of a fair trial”. His lawyers believe that the proceedings amount to judicial harassment against the opposition.
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