Ghannouchi is considered a terrorism suspect and his arrest is “possible”
Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood leader Rached Ghannouchi will appear before an anti-terrorism investigative judge on Tuesday
Today, the judiciary is considering a charge that a member of one of the country’s security unions accused the leader of Ennahdha of defaming security agents and calling them “thugs.”
A judicial source confirmed that “because this date coincides with a second summons for investigation on a charge filed by another member of a security union, and after the intervention of the defense, it was decided to postpone the second date to Thursday at 10 o’clock to hear Ghannouchi’s statements on what was mentioned in a recorded video containing a conversation between the leader of Ennahdha and members of Ansar Al-Sharia.”
Ansar al-Sharia is a banned organization in Tunisia following the 2013 assassination of leftist leader Chokri Belaid and nationalist leader Mohamed Brahmi.
Judicial authorities had scheduled an earlier hearing to hear Ghannouchi’s statement, but he was absent because of alleged “health reasons.” It is expected that this week will take place twice, on Tuesday and Thursday. Otherwise, he will be arrested.
The source said that if Ghannouchi again fails to appear at the hearing, the investigating judge will issue an arrest warrant against him.
The defense of Chokri Belaid and Brahmi link Ansar al-Sharia to Ennahdha and believe that the Brotherhood was involved in both murders.
Ghannouchi was attending the funeral in February 2022 of Ennahdha Shura Council member and former director of Al Jazeera’s bureau, Farhat Alabbar, in the southern province of Tataouine, who said in his eulogy to one of his men: “He was brave and did not fear a ruler or a tyrant.”
The term “tyranny” is adopted by terrorists alone from a takfiri lexicon, who usually target security forces, the military and the state in general.
The legacy of the octogenarian who launched a terrorist is still true to his anti-state rhetoric. He belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s and 1990s, and he disowned the Tunisian authorities and sent his supporters to burn down security headquarters.
The leader of the Brotherhood in Tunisia also considered ISIS one of his sons in a famous statement in which he said, “They remind me of my youth”.
