Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist party Ennahdha, came before a court in Sousse (east) on Thursday as part of an investigation for “money laundering” and “incitement to violence.”
Mr. Ghannouchi, who led the frozen parliament in July 2021 before it was dissolved by President Saied, was already questioned last July as part of the “Instalingo” probe.
Local media say that other Ennahdha members are being prosecuted for what seem to be suspicious financial dealings with Instalingo, a digital content production company that is accused of launching defamation campaigns against high-profile state officials.
Since 2021, the Instalingo corporation has been under judicial investigation for “plotting against state security” and “inciting violence.
Ghannouchi, 81, has been a critic of President Saied’s coup, which gained complete power on July 25, 2021. He is also charged in another case involving the shipping of jihadists to conflict areas, which has been at the centre of political controversy for years and has recently revived.
The Ennahdha party, which has been a pillar of the governments that have come to power since 2011, is accused by critics and members of the political elite of facilitating the departure of these jihadists to war zones, something the movement strongly rejects.
The courts ordered the freezing of Ghannouchi’s Tunisian bank accounts, as well as those of a dozen members of his family and party, in early July. Mr. Ghannouchi was also barred from going overseas on June 27 as part of another investigation into the assassinations of two socialist activists in 2013.
Ennahdha and Ghannouchi have both denied all charges levelled against them.