The speaker of Tunisia’s disbanded parliament made an appearance before a judge on Monday who is looking into claims that his party assisted Tunisian extremists in leaving the country to fight in Iraq and Syria.
According to one of his attorneys, Mokhtar Jemai, Rached Ghannouchi, a fierce adversary of President Kais Saied and the leader of the Ennahdha party, arrived at the anti-terror court in a suburb of Tunis in the morning.
The judge’s decision regarding whether or not to charge the 81-year-old is anticipated following the hearing.
Since Saied ousted the Ennahdha-backed government and assumed full executive authority in July 2021, a number of other Ennahdha leaders have been investigated in the “shipment of extremists” case.
Thousands of Tunisians joined terror organizations in Libya after the 2011 uprising there, as well as Daesh in its strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
Rivals of Ennahdha, the political powerhouse in Tunisia from 2011 until Saied’s activities, charge the group with assisting their departure.
The party has categorically denied these allegations and claimed that they are “fabricated,” alleging that the government is attempting to divert attention away from “economic and social concerns and the worsening of people’s living conditions.”
On November 10, Ghannouchi also made an appearance in front of a judge as part of a case involving money laundering and “incitation to violence.”