Referral of Several Ennahdha Leaders to the Anti-Terrorism Pole

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The Court of First Instance in the province of Ben Arous has decided to transfer the investigations concerning several leaders and members of the Ennahdha movement, who were arrested this week, to the Judicial Anti-Terrorism Pole. This decision comes as the movement reports a new wave of arrests just under a month before the presidential elections scheduled for October 6.

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On Thursday, Ennahdha confirmed the arrest of several of its leaders, a day after the arrest of prominent members, including Mohamed Kaloui, a member of the movement’s executive bureau, Mohamed Ali Boukhatem, regional secretary-general of the Ben Arous province, and others.

Local media sources, including Mosaïque radio, reported on Thursday that the public prosecutor of the Court of First Instance believed that the charges against the detainees had a terrorist nature.

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These arrests follow warnings from Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed during a meeting this week with Interior Minister Khaled Nouri and several security officials about attempts to destabilize the security situation ahead of the elections.

He called for “increased vigilance and foresight to thwart any attempts to harm the security of the state and citizens, especially given numerous indications pointing to the involvement of certain circles with foreign entities.”

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Tunisians fear that some political forces, affected by the country’s political progress, may seek to create chaos and confusion to disrupt the security situation.

Although the Ennahdha movement, which is part of the National Salvation Front, has announced it will not participate in the presidential elections or support a specific candidate, it is not excluded that it may support Saïed‘s opponents to end its political isolation and confusion.

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However, it seems unlikely that Ennahdha, which has lost much of its popularity due to its involvement in numerous abuses during its decade in power, will be able to mobilize the streets or carry out specific threats, although it still retains some influence through social media.

The current president faces competition from two presidential candidates: Zohair Maghzaoui, Secretary-General of the People’s Movement, and politician Ayachi Zammel, currently detained in an electoral sponsorship forgery case. The electoral commission has refused to enforce the Administrative Court’s ruling to reinstate three candidates: Abdelatif Mekki, Secretary-General of the Party of Labour and Achievement, politician Imed Deymi, and former minister Mondher Znaidi.

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Since President Saïed took exceptional measures on July 25, 2021, many Ennahdha leaders, including Rached Ghannouchi, have been arrested on various charges, including involvement in a secret apparatus, recruitment for jihad, corruption, and money laundering.

Last month, the Anti-Terrorism Pole began investigating the case known as the “secret apparatus” of Ennahdha, one of the most sensitive cases that has gripped the Tunisian public, who are demanding to uncover the truth about political assassinations and terrorist attacks that occurred after the revolution.

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Prominent leaders like Ghannouchi, Ali Larayedh, and Noureddine Bhiri have also been sentenced to prison in various legal cases.