The Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia in 2024: “Heads” Behind Bars

---

A decade under the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule plunged Tunisia into a “quagmire of terrorism, corruption, and economic failure,” prompting the opening of numerous files and placing their legacy under judicial scrutiny, ultimately leading them back behind bars.

• As the election date approaches… Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia intensifies efforts to disrupt

• Who is Noureddine Bhiri, the mastermind of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia, accused in the travel case after being sentenced?

Despite the Brotherhood’s attempts to reinvent themselves to regain lost ground, their new ploy failed to deceive Tunisians, who endured significant hardship under their rule and rejected them politically and socially.

At the beginning of 2024, the Ennahdha Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood’s branch in Tunisia, announced plans to change its name and that of its Shura Council.
On January 12, Ajmi Lourimi, the movement’s secretary, stated that renaming Ennahdha and transforming the Shura Council into a National Council were possible. However, these goals were not achieved due to the judicial crackdown on the movement, which had seized power in Tunisia in 2011 after its leader, Rached Ghannouchi, returned from exile.

• Saied is determined to eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia… Details 

• Its effects are no less than bombing Palestinian hospitals… Saied speaks about the corruption of the Brotherhood in Tunisia 

Ghannouchi’s Conviction

After years of evading accountability due to their hold on power, Tunisia began reaping the fruits of the course set in July 2021. The year 2024 witnessed judicial proceedings against Ennahdha’s leaders for crimes committed during the “dark decade.”

On February 1, 2024, the judiciary sentenced Rached Ghannouchi and his son-in-law, Rafiq Abdel Salam, to three years in prison for receiving foreign funding during the 2019 elections following months of judicial investigations.

• The Ennahdha Movement collapses… Crises hit the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia

• Painful end for the Brotherhood in Tunisia… demands to dissolve Ennahdha movement after the arrest of Ghannouchi

Ghannouchi has been in custody since April 2023, accused of conspiracy against state security after making statements threatening civil war and chaos if his movement was excluded from power.

Other charges include money laundering and compromising state security in the case known as “Instalingo,” a company specializing in digital media production.

• The leaders of the Brotherhood in Tunisia before the judiciary.. The start of the investigations of “Deportation of Terrorist”

• After the failure of the Brotherhood in Tunisia.. Is Kais Saied ending the legacy of Ennahdha and its corruption?

Political Assassination

On February 6, 2024, Tunisia’s primary court began interrogating defendants in the case of the assassination of leftist leader Chokri Belaid, who was killed on February 6, 2013.
Belaid’s legal team accused Ennahdha of orchestrating his assassination during their rule.

On March 27, 2024, a Tunisian court sentenced four individuals to death and two others to life imprisonment for Belaid’s murder, the first political assassination in Tunisia in decades.

• Ghannouchi before the courts… Terrorism Surrounds the Head of the Brotherhood in Tunisia

•  “The Secret Apparatus” of Tunisia’s Brotherhood: A “Black Box” from Darkness to Light

Among the sentenced is Mohamed Aouadi, alias “El Taweel,” a military leader and deputy head of the banned Ansar Al-Charia organization, whose arrest unveiled critical information on planned terrorist operations and assassinations.

A Series of Sentences

In May 2024, Tunisian courts issued another three-year prison sentence against Ghannouchi for foreign funding.

On June 24, 2024, the Appeals Court sentenced Ghannouchi to one year in prison and fined him 1,000 dinars ($333) for glorifying terrorism.

• Tunisia’s Brotherhood Announces the ‘Buzz’: ‘Blue Flies’ Swarm over the ‘Rumor Dumps’

• How Kais Saied Ended the Control of the “Muslim Brotherhood” Over Tunisia and Its Institutions: A Report Explains

In July, the Anti-Terrorism Judicial Authority issued arrest warrants for several senior movement members for conspiracy against state security.

In October, former Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri was sentenced to ten years for compromising state security.

The Year of Accountability

According to Tunisian political analyst Mohamed Maïdani, 2024 was a year of reckoning for the Muslim Brotherhood, marked by intensified judicial pressure. He noted that Ennahdha is now politically and socially discredited, unable to restructure itself in the face of its crumbling ranks.

• Tunisia’s Brotherhood Still Trying to Escalate the Situation… What Have They Done?

• Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood Leader Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

• Tunisian Brotherhood: Arrest of 80 Leaders from the Ennahdha Movement. What Are the Charges?