21 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The leader of the Islamist party Ennahda and president of the dissolved Parliament, Rachid Ghanuchi, appeared again this Tuesday before the Tunisian Justice after a police union filed a complaint for alleged hateful comments made against a member of the security forces.
“I spent 50 years defending democracy,” he said upon arrival at the police station, where he was surrounded by his supporters, with Tunisian flags. Ghanuchi has also pointed out that he is being tried “with fabricated files” and has condemned the “political instrumentalization of the judiciary”.
The Ennahda leader has appeared before the Anti-Terrorist Brigade at the El Aouina Police Station in the capital, Tunis, for having called a police officer in Tataouine a “criminal” during a tribute to a leader of his party.
During the process, which has been taking place since last August in the El Aouina police division, Ghanuchi has been released, as reported by his lawyer, Samir Dilu, the TAP news agency has reported.
Ghanuchi has other cases pending in the Justice. He faces an investigation on suspicion of sending nearly 800 fighters to Syria and was also summoned to testify in July for alleged money laundering.
Ennahda, the dominant force in Parliament suspended in July 2021 by the president, Kais Saied, has been very critical of the president for the exceptional measures announced since that date, when he arrogated all powers by also dissolving the Government.
Saied has promoted a series of measures in recent months to reform the Tunisian political system, including a constitutional referendum, approved in the midst of the opposition boycott, which reinforces the powers of the Presidency. The opposition has denounced an authoritarian drift of the president and has demanded his resignation, especially after the very low turnout in the December and January legislatures.
