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Influential Tunisian Islamist chief Rached Ghannouchi was detained Monday after a police search, based on his lawyer, in a transfer denounced by his supporters as a stepped-up effort by the president to quash Tunisia’s opposition.
The transfer in opposition to the 81-year-old former parliament speaker comes amid rising social tensions and deepening financial troubles in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy motion greater than a decade in the past.
Ghannouchi, head of the Ennahdha social gathering, is probably the most outstanding critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied. Whereas he has been detained for questioning prior to now and launched, his supporters described Monday’s motion as a extra critical step.
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Police entered his home for a prolonged search and introduced him to the El Aouina jail within the east of the capital, his lawyer Nejib Chebbi instructed The Related Press.
Ennahdha known as for his launch, saying in a press release that it “condemns this very harmful growth.”
![Tunisian Islamist leader and opposition figurehead Rached Ghannouchi has reportedly been detained by police.](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/04/640/320/rached_ghannouchi.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Tunisian Islamist chief and opposition figurehead Rached Ghannouchi has reportedly been detained by police. (AP Picture/Hassene Dridi, File)
Tunisia’s official TAP information company reported that he was detained on a warrant by counterterrorism prosecutors as a part of an investigation into current “provocative” feedback. It didn’t elaborate.
Different Tunisian media reported that Ghannouchi was to be questioned over a video circulating on-line during which he purportedly says that the president’s perceived efforts to “eradicate” Islamist opposition threaten to unleash civil conflict.
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Ghannouchi has been detained earlier than for questioning on suspicion of cash laundering and terrorism financing via a charity. He has denied wrongdoing and his social gathering says the accusations are politically pushed.
His daughter Yusra stated her father had cooperated with police throughout previous detentions, and lamented that the president “ordered a raid on his home and his arrest after sunset throughout probably the most holy evening of Ramadan.”
Islamist lawyer Ines Harrath questioned why he wasn’t summoned for questioning throughout regular working hours. “We’re not dwelling in a state of legislation,” she stated. ‘’The present state of affairs can not final eternally.”
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Saied shut down the Ennahdha-led parliament in 2021 and has since moved to consolidate energy amid rising public disillusionment with Tunisia’s democracy.
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