According to the main opposition Ennahda party of Tunisia, two senior members have been detained as part of the most recent campaign against Kais Saied opponents.
Mondher Ounissi, the temporary leader of Ennahda, and Abdel Karim Harouni, who was put under house arrest this week, were both taken into custody by the police on Tuesday, according to the party.
Following the release of audio recordings on social media this week that were purportedly by Ounissi, in which he allegedly accused some party officials of attempting to control Ennahda and accepting illicit cash, Ounissi was arrested.
The public prosecutor’s office in Tunisia began an investigation into the tapes on Monday. In a video posted to his Facebook page, Ounissi claimed that the recordings were fake.
The highest-ranking body of Ennahda, the largest political party in the parliament that was shut down by President Saied in 2021, is headed by the second arrested official, Harouni, who is also the head of the Shura Council.
The opposition party claimed on Sunday that Harouni’s house arrest “comes in the context of the arrest of the historical leaders of the Ennahda Party, the closure of all its headquarters, and threat to its leaders and activists”
The most vocal opponent of Saied and the leader of Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi, as well as other party executives were detained by the authorities earlier this year.
According to reports, counterterrorism prosecutors executed a warrant and detained the 81-year-old Ghannouchi as part of an inquiry into “provocative” remarks.
The accusations, according to Ennahda and its supporters, are politically motivated and the latest in a widespread campaign that has already resulted in the arrests of several party figures, including an ex-prime minister.
The Tunisian government was instructed to “eliminate all barriers” and provide Ghannouchi and other political detainees with access to counsel and medical care by the African Court on Human and People’s Rights last week.
The Tunisian government was also mandated by the court to disclose all information pertaining to the arrests of the prisoners and to explain the reasons for their incarceration to the detainees, their relatives, and their attorneys.
The court granted Tunisia 15 days to comply with its order and react. The court has the authority to consider complaints against human rights abuses in African Union member states that have accepted the court’s charter.