Tunisia’s Ghannouchi boycotts interrogation sessions to protest detention

TUNIS, Tunisia

Leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda movement, Rached Ghannouchi, has boycotted his interrogation sessions to protest his detention, according to his daughter.

Soumaya Ghannouchi said on Twitter that her father has experienced "endless interrogations meant to exhaust him physically and mentally."

"My father is boycotting future interrogation sessions," she said, adding that Ghannouchi has so far "attended over 120 hours of interrogations on fake charges."

Ghannouchi’s defense lawyer Mokhtar Jamai also confirmed the Ennahda leader’s boycott of his interrogation sessions.

“The summoning of Ghannouchi has become a kind of abuse,” he added on his Facebook account.

There was no comment from the Tunisian authorities on Ghannouchi's decision.

Last week, a judge ordered Ghannouchi kept under arrest after he was detained on April 17 on accusations of plotting against state security.

In February, Ghannouchi answered accusations of incitement against security forces before the judiciary and was set free after giving his testimony.

Tunisian authorities have launched a widespread arrest campaign against critics of President Kais Saied in recent weeks on accusations of being part of a conspiracy against state security.

Tunisia has been in a deep political crisis since July 2021 when Saied ousted the government and dissolved the parliament, in a move decried by opponents as a “coup.”

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar