Following the recent pragmatic moves by him and his party, Rashid Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda Movement, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Tunisia, is facing a harsher sentence of 15 months in prison and a fine of about $315 in what is known as the “glorifying terrorism” case.
Rashid Ghannouchi faces numerous cases, amid popular demands to hold him and the leaders of his movement accountable for the ten years during which they ruled the country and caused several political, economic, and social crises, in addition to attempts to introduce Islamist ideology into Tunisian society.
Tunisia.. and the ruling against Rashid Ghannouchi
In this context, the criminal chamber specializing in terrorism cases at the Court of Appeal in Tunisia decided on Monday evening to sentence Rashid Ghannouchi to 15 months in prison, fine him 1,000 Tunisian dinars, or about $315, and place him under administrative supervision for three years.
The court’s ruling came against the backdrop of charges related to “praise, glorification, and incitement to hatred and animosity between races and religions,” according to what his party announced on Tuesday. The party added in its statement published on Monday evening: “Without the presence of Rashid Ghannouchi or the defense team, the Court of Appeal in Tunis issued a sentence of 15 months in prison, a fine of 1,000 dinars, and administrative supervision for three years in the case known as ‘taghut.’”
The party said the ruling came “to expose once again the submission of important parts of the Tunisian judiciary to the agenda of the executive authority and its desire to persecute its political opponents, using the judiciary as a weapon against every free voice,” according to AFP on Tuesday.
The case concerns a complaint filed by a police union official against Rashid Ghannouchi after he eulogized one of the Ennahda Movement’s leaders in southern Tunisia, saying that he had “resisted the taghut” during his lifetime, which the complainant considered a reference to security officers.
Previous cases
In mid-May, the court of first instance sentenced Ghannouchi to one year in prison and the same fine, and the party said at the time that it came within the framework of “political trials.” On April 17, security forces arrested Ghannouchi in Tunis after he warned of an “intellectual and ideological exclusion in Tunisia that lays the groundwork for civil war” if leftist parties or those emerging from the Islamist current, such as Ennahda, were eliminated. All party headquarters were subsequently closed.
Ghannouchi has also repeatedly appeared before the courts for investigation in cases involving charges attributed to him of “sending terrorists” to Syria and “money laundering.” The authorities launched a wide-ranging arrest campaign against many political opponents, including senior leaders in the Ennahda Movement.
A detention order had previously been issued against Ghannouchi in two cases: the first, “conspiring against state security,” and the second, the espionage case known as “Instalingo.”
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