Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda political party and one of the main opponents of the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, has been arrested on Monday.
The 81-year-old veteran leader was arrested by police at his Tunis home and taken “to an unknown location”, Ennahdha said in a statement.
Hours after Ghannouchi’s arrest, police raided the party headquarters and evacuated all present to start a search that will take days, after showing a judicial warrant, party officials told Reuters.
Ghannouchi’s party was the largest in parliament before Saied dissolved the chamber in July 2021.
Ghannouchi was the speaker of Tunisia’s parliament before Saied dissolved it and went on to seize wide-ranging powers through the coup. Ghannouchi was exiled for 22 years under the late dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, but had returned after the country’s 2011 uprising to become a dominant figure in Tunisian politics.
“Ennahdha denounces this extremely serious development and calls for the immediate release of Rached Ghannouchi,” read the statement.
Beginning in early February, Tunisian authorities have detained over 20 political opponents and notable individuals. This group encompasses politicians, former ministers, business figures, trade unionists, and even the proprietor of Mosaique FM, Tunisia’s most widely listened-to radio station.
According to Saied, those detained were “terrorists” involved in a “conspiracy against state security.”
