Judge orders Tunisian Islamist leader to stay in custody
The party of influential Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi says a Tunisian investigative judge has ordered him held in custody following his arrest on Monday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A Tunisian investigative judge has ordered that influential Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi remain in custody, his party said Thursday on its official social media.
The Ennahdha party denounced in a statement on Facebook the āunjust imprisonmentā of its leader, after Ghannouchi was arrested by police Monday. On its English-language Twitter account, the party said Ghannouchi has been charged with conspiracy against state security and ordered to be imprisoned pending trial.
Ghannouchi, 81, is the most prominent critic of President Kais Saied. He served as speaker of Tunisiaās parliament until Saied dissolved the body last July and seized most executive powers in the North African country ā a move that Ghannouchi and other opponents call a coup.
He has been detained for questioning a number of times in the past, but the circumstances of his latest detention suggested that this time was more serious.
Tunisiaās official TAP news agency reported earlier this week that he was detained on a warrant by counterterrorism prosecutors as part of an investigation into recent āprovocativeā comments. It did not elaborate.
Other Tunisian media reported that Ghannouchi was to be questioned over a video circulating online in which he purportedly says that the presidentās perceived efforts to āeradicate" Islamist opposition threaten to unleash civil war.
The move comes amid growing social tensions and deepening economic troubles in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movement more than a decade ago.