Tunisia: Ghannouchi and a former prime minister appear for investigation
In a new development in the case of young Tunisians infiltrating hotbeds of tension, especially in Syria, Libya and Iraq, Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi and former Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Larayedh are separately standing trial at the National Unity Headquarters for terrorism crimes and organized crimes against the integrity of the national territory.
Over the past few days, Tunisia has witnessed the arrest of a number of leaders of Ennahdha, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia in connection with the same case, including Fathi Al-Baladi, Abdel Karim Al-Obaidi, Fathi Busayda, former MP Rida Al-Jawadi, Sheik Al-Bashir Belhasan, Habib Al-Louz, former MP and leader in the Ennahda Movement and president of the “Da’wa and Reform Association”, in addition to Mohamed Frikha.
According to Tunisian radio station Mosaique, the decision to retain Mohamed Frikha was made in light of his previous ownership of an airline company. The number of detainees exceeded 10 pending investigations into the case file, in coordination with the anti-terrorism prosecution service.
Ghannouchi, the leader of Ennahdha, faces charges of financing terrorism through the “Association of Namaa Tunis,” which Rida Al-Radawi, a member of the defense committee for Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Al-Brahmi, revealed in early February that it was established in 2011 with the aim of encouraging foreign investments. It was involved in the crimes of sending young Tunisians to fight in conflict and war areas. Preliminary criminal investigations were opened, which were soon followed by “the hand of the Ennahdha Brotherhood Movement through its arm in the judiciary.”
While Ennahdha and its leaders are trying to promote the issue as political, and deny any relationship between Ghannouchi and Namaa Tunis, lawyer Ali Ben Aoun said that the pictures, posts and meetings confirm that Ghannouchi is linked to the association involved in money laundering and smuggling, and financing associations and organizations linked to terrorism inside and outside Tunisia. In addition, it was proven that Ennahdha was involved in the secret service file, and it was proved that he received foreign funds to finance his election campaign under the “Lobbing Contracts”.
Ennahdha leader Noureddine El Khademi, the former minister of religious affairs, is also under investigation for a video in which El Khademi urges young Tunisians to “support Syrians” during a Friday sermon he delivered during Ramadan in 2012, before the formation of the first Ennahdha government at al-Fateh Mosque, one of the most prominent mosques in the Tunisian capital, which was then controlled by Ennahdha and Salafi jihadist groups in Tunisia, QPosts reported.
