Tunisian Court Jails Opposition Leader Rached Ghannouchi to One Year in Prison

Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Tunisian opposition, was found guilty and given a one-year prison sentence.

After being arrested for allegedly plotting against state security and inciting unrest, the leader of the Ennahda party, who is an outspoken critic of President Said Kaies, has been held in detention since the beginning of the previous month.

According to the report, Mr. Ghannouchi refused to appear in front of the judges and dismissed the allegations as having a political motivation. On Monday, he was handed a sentence despite not being present in court.

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In the meantime, there has been a wave of arrests this year of prominent figures who are opposed to President Saied, who took over full executive powers almost two years ago.

Since February, Mr. Saied’s political opponents and prominent personalities, including former ministers and prominent figures in business, have been arrested a total of 20 times.

The detention of Mr. Ghannouchi and others a month ago prompted widespread outrage across the globe, including from the United States of America, the European Union, and various rights organizations.