TUNIS: Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, is set to begin a hunger strike while in prison, according to a statement from his Islamist Ennahda party released on Friday.
Ghannouchi, 82, has been in prison since April. His lawyer said the charges stem from a funeral eulogy he delivered last year for a member of his Ennahda party. In that eulogy, he said the deceased “did not fear a ruler or tyrant, he only feared God.”
Charges against opposition leader
Last May, a Tunisian judge sentenced Ghannouchi in absentia to a year in prison on charges of incitement, his lawyer Monia Bouali said.
The leader of the Islamist Ennahda party is also implicated in an alleged plot against state security, along with other detained opposition figures. These figures accuse President Saied of orchestrating a coup by shutting down the elected parliament and assuming rule by decree.
President Saied, who solidified his expanded powers through a referendum with low turnout last year, rejects the characterization of his actions as a coup. Instead, he contends that they were necessary to rescue Tunisia from years of turmoil.
He has labeled his critics as criminals, traitors, and terrorists, cautioning that any judge who releases them would be seen as aiding and abetting them.
Before the 2011 revolution that ushered in democracy, Ghannouchi, a former political prisoner and exile, played a significant role in Tunisian politics.
He served as the parliament speaker from the 2019 election until Saied deployed tanks to close down the chamber in 2021. This year, the police have detained over 20 political figures, including Ghannouchi, accusing some of conspiring against state security.
