A top official in the opposition Ennahda Islamist Party in Tunisia, Abdel Karim Harouni, has been placed under house arrest by Tunisian authorities.
This is according to the country’s major opposition coalition.
The highest-ranking body of Ennahda, the largest political party in the parliament that was disbanded by President Kais Saied in 2021, is the Shura Council, which is led by Harouni.
The arrest of Ennahda leaders and the closure of their headquarters, according to the Salvation Front alliance, led to “the arbitrary decision” against Harouni.
This year, the police detained a number of party leaders, including Noureddine Bhiri, Riadh Bettaib, Said Ferjani, Sahbi Atigue, and Mohamed Ben Salem. Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the party and the president’s most vocal opponent, was also detained.
In a step that Ennahda said was intended to solidify a dictatorial dictatorship, the government also outlawed meetings at all Ennahda offices and the police locked all party offices.
Leading political figures were imprisoned by police this year after accusing Saied of staging a coup after he disbanded the elected parliament in 2021 and transitioned to a dictatorship by decree before revising the constitution. According to Saied, those in custody are “terrorists, traitors, and criminals.”
Local and international rights organisations have pleaded with authorities to release the inmates as the opposition parties have denounced the arrests of their leaders as being politically motivated.
