Khaberni - Ennahda opposition movement in Tunisia announced on Thursday that the health of its imprisoned leader, Rached Ghannouchi, has sharply deteriorated, and that the prison administration urgently transferred him to a hospital. Ghannouchi, who served as president of the parliament which was suspended by President Kais Saied in 2021, has been sentenced to prison terms of up to 70 years in several cases, which he claims are "fabricated."
Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda Movement in Tunisia, was transferred from prison to the hospital on Thursday after his health sharply deteriorated. Ghannouchi, 84 years old and a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, has been a prominent figure in Tunisian political life since the 2011 revolution and has been in prison since 2023 as part of what the opposition describes as a widespread repression campaign against leading opposition figures.
Ghannouchi, who served as president of the parliament which was suspended by Saied in 2021, has been sentenced to prison terms of up to 70 years in cases he claims are fabricated, and refused to appear before the judges in court, stating that he does not trust judges whose verdicts are pre-determined and who receive instructions.
The movement stated in a statement that the prison authorities transferred Ghannouchi to the hospital without providing further details. The statement added that "he was urgently transferred by the prison administration after experiencing a severe deterioration in his health, to receive treatment and remain under medical surveillance for days," and called for his immediate release.
Kais Saied abruptly suspended the elected parliament in 2021, and began ruling by decrees, which the opposition described as a coup. Tunisia, which was considered the only success story of democracy after the Arab Spring revolutions 15 years ago, faces increasing criticism from international human rights organizations regarding the restrictions imposed on opponents, the media, and civil society.
Leaders of the main opposition parties have been imprisoned over the past three years, along with dozens of politicians, journalists, activists, and businessmen, on charges related to conspiring against state security, money laundering, and corruption. Saied says he will not be a dictator and that freedoms are guaranteed in Tunisia, but he also asserts that no one is above accountability, regardless of their name or position.
