Tunisia: Rached Ghannouchi was brought back to court as a suspect
Two weeks before his re-appearance in court in the case of thousands of young Tunisians traveling to fight with terrorist groups in conflict zones, Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahdha Muslim Brotherhood Movement in Tunisia (the president of the dissolved parliament), will appear, Thursday, before the investigating judge at the Court of First Instance in Sousse, on charges related to money laundering and assaulting the security of the state, or what is known in Tunisia as the “Instalingo case”.
The case concerned suspicions of money laundering, espionage, and plotting to strike the state, and included 27 individuals, including Ghannouchi and leading Ennahdha figures, as well as politicians, journalists, businessmen, senior security officials, and bloggers.
The judiciary charged the suspects with committing crimes related to money laundering, exploiting the facilities provided for in the characteristics of employment and professional and social activity, assault intended to change the state structure, causing the population to confront one another, and inciting migration, murder and looting in Tunisian soil.
The suspects also face charges of committing a monstrous order against the President of the State and attacking the external security of the State by attempting to undermine the territorial integrity of Tunisia, in accordance with the law on combating terrorism, preventing money-laundering in accordance with articles 61, 67 and 72 of the Penal Code, and article 94 of Law No. 26 of 2015 on combating terrorism and preventing money-laundering.
In a statement to the Tunisian Diwan Radio, Ghannouchi’s lawyer, Sami Al-Tariki, said that Ghannouchi will appear before the judge as “suspicious”, denying that there is any relation between Ghannouchi and Instalingo, who specializes in digital media production, and that he signed the marriage in his name… And every time his name is thrown in a lawsuit and he is proven innocent… It is clear that the country is at a dangerous turning point.”
Al-Tariki also said Ghannouchi learned of Instalingo’s presence when he signed his invitation to investigate other political and non-political figures.
The Tunisian authorities had previously announced that the anti-terrorism court ordered the freezing of the financial assets and bank accounts of 10 figures, including Ghannouchi, former Prime Minister and Ennahdha leader Hamadi Jebali.
The Tunisian judiciary issued a decision since the end of June to prevent Ghannouchi’s travel within the framework of the investigation into the political assassinations of political opponents Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi in 2013, in which he accused the secret service of Ennahdha.
Rached Ghannouchi and the movement’s leader, Ali Larayedh, are expected to appear before the National Unit for Terrorist Crimes and Organized Crimes against the Integrity of the National Territory in the next few days in the case of Tunisian youth traveling to hotbeds of tension and joining armed terrorist organizations.
Political left-wing parties, in connection with the political assassinations that took place in Tunisia in 2013 (the assassinations of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi), accuse the leaders of the movement, which was the leader of the political scene in 2012 and 2013, of the political and moral responsibility for the enrollment of about 12,000 young Tunisians in terrorist organizations, as a result of turning a blind eye to the networks of those who send them to fight against the Syrian regime.
