Former speaker of Tunisia’s dissolved parliament and founder of Islamist party Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi has been released after appearing in court on Thursday on a case involving money laundering and “incitement to violence”
The party dominated Tunisian politics for a decade until President Kais Saied’s consolidation of power in July last year.
After a 14-hour hearing, the investigating judge released Ghannouchi, his lawyer Sami Triki said.
Other Ennahdha members are also facing prosecution over suspicious transactions involving Instalingo, a digital production firm.
The company has been under investigation since last year for allegedly “plotting against state security” and inciting violence.
Triki said Ghannouchi would be prosecuted in this case, but that no date for the next hearing has been set.
The 81-year-old had arrived at court in the coastal city of Sousse, where he told newsmen the case was an “empty file” and an “invented problem”.
“This is trumped up and aimed at distracting the Tunisian people from the real problems we’re facing,” he said.
Tunisia’s President Kais Saied sacked the Ennahdha-supported government and seize full executive authority since July. His stranglehold on power has been severely criticised by Rached Ghannouchi.
Saied also dissolved the parliament and pushed through a constitution giving his own office almost limitless powers.
Ghannouchi and other Ennahdha officials are also on trial in a separate case, known as the “shipment of jihadists” to conflict zones, which has been at the heart of the political debate for years and has recently resurfaced. Ennahdha has denied all the charges against its members.