Rached Ghannouchi, an opponent of President Kais Saied, was given an indictment for inciting on Monday and was given a year in prison, according to his attorney Monia Bouali.
Since April, 81-year-old Ghannouchi has been incarcerated. The charges, according to his attorney, are related to a eulogy he delivered for a member of his Ennahda party last year in which he stated that the deceased “did not fear a ruler or tyrant, he only feared God.”
Along with other imprisoned opposition figures, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda party is accused of planning against state security in response to Saied’s decision to dissolve the elected parliament and impose power by decree. They also accuse Saied of staging a coup.
Saied has denied his actions were a coup and claimed they were required to save Tunisia from years of anarchy. He entrenched his new powers in a constitution that he passed through a referendum with low attendance last year.
He has referred to his detractors as terrorists, criminals, and traitors, and he has warned that any judge who releases them will be seen as aiding and abetting them.
According to his counsel, Ghannouchi has declined to show up in court because he believes the accusations are false and the trial is political.
“These trials are the purification against opposition leaders, using the judiciary, because they have not been able to defeat them politically,” said Bouali.
Before the 2011 revolution that delivered democracy, Ghannouchi was a political prisoner and exile. He served as speaker of the parliament from the 2019 election until Saied dispatched tanks to shut down the house in 2021.
In what rights groups dubbed a de facto ban, Tunisian authorities last month forbade meetings at any Ennahda offices and closed the headquarters of the Salvation Front, the largest opposition alliance.
Saied asserted that “no one is above the law” and that he will not relent in taking those responsible for crimes against the nation accountable. The Tunisian authorities made no comments in response to the ruling.
