TUNIS: Tunisia’s Islamist movement leader Rached Ghannouchi was allowed to return home after a court hearing on Tuesday in a money laundering investigation that his Ennahda party rejects as a political ploy.
The preliminary hearing before an investigative judge lasted nearly 10 hours and followed warnings from activists that the authorities were contemplating arresting the 81-year-old Ghannouchi to hold in pre-trial detention.
However, a lawyer for Ghannouchi and an Ennahda party official said the judge had released him pending further investigation.
The hearing comes less than a week before President Kais Saied holds a referendum on a new constitution that would greatly expand his powers, a move that Ennahda and many other parties have rejected as illegal.
About 200 people gathered in front of the court, chanting “Down with the coup,” referring to Saied’s seizure of powers, and “Ghannouchi, you are not alone.” They raised banners that read “stop political trials” and celebrated after his release.
A judiciary official told Reuters the judge was investigating suspicions of money laundering relating to foreign funds paid to an Ennahda-linked association. Local media have also reported that he would also be investigated for suspected links to terrorism.
The judge has ordered a freeze on the financial assets of Ghannouchi, who is the speaker of the parliament that Saied has dissolved, as well as former prime minister Hamadi Jebali and several other people.
Last week, Ghannouchi told Reuters the investigation into him was politically motivated and said Saied was using the referendum to push Tunisia toward dictatorship.
He said in a statement on Tuesday that “the malicious charges fall within the framework of passing a constitution that enshrines tyranny.”
He added that he had been tried and imprisoned during the tenure of two former presidents, Zine El Abdine Ben Ali and Habib Bourguiba, and was also now “subjected to the worst forms of injustice.”
Ennahda has been a major force in parliament and in nearly every coalition government since the 2011 revolution, working alongside secular parties and moving away from its Islamist roots.
Saied has said his moves since last year, when he closed the parliament and started to rule by decree before rewriting the country’s democratic constitution, were necessary to end years of political stagnation.
Tunisian judge lets opposition chief go after hearing
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Tunisian judge lets opposition chief go after hearing
- The hearing comes less than a week before President Kais Saied holds a referendum on a new constitution that would greatly expand his powers, a move that Ennahda and many other parties have rejected as illegal
Syrian government says it controls prison in Raqqa with Daesh-linked detainees
- Prison holds detainees linked to Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity between advancing Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters
Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Friday it had taken over Al-Aktan prison in the city of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, a facility that was formerly under the control of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The prison has been holding detainees linked to the militant group Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity this week between advancing Syrian government forces and the SDF.
It was not immediately clear how many Daesh detainees remain in Al-Aktan prison as the US military has started transferring up to 7,000 prisoners linked to the militant Islamist group from Syrian jails to neighboring Iraq. US officials say the detainees are citizens of many countries, including in Europe.
“Specialized teams were formed from the counter-terrorism department and other relevant authorities to take over the tasks of guarding and securing the prison and controlling the security situation inside it,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Under a sweeping integration deal agreed on Sunday, responsibility for prisons housing Daesh detainees was meant to be transferred to the Syrian government.
The SDF said on Monday it was battling Syrian government forces near Al-Aktan and that the seizure of the prison by the government forces “could have serious security repercussions that threaten stability and pave the way for a return to chaos and terrorism.”
The US transfer of Daesh prisoners follows the rapid collapse of Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria. Concerns over prison security intensified after the escape on Tuesday of roughly 200 low-level Daesh fighters from Syria’s Shaddadi prison. Syrian government forces later recaptured many of them.
