Tunisia judiciary clears Ennahda of receiving foreign electoral funding 

Tunisia’s judiciary has cleared Ennahda movement of allegations that it received “foreign funding” during the 2019 campaign for parliamentary elections, Anadolu news agency reported.

“The Tunisian Court of Audit has considered the accusation of receiving foreign funding by members of the Tunisia 1 List in the 2019 legislative elections and decided to drop the case” Ennahda official and a member of its executive office, Sami Al-Tariqi, told the news agency.

Al-Tariqi said the accusations against the movement are politically motivated and aimed at discrediting its members.

“We have not been proven guilty of any crime,” he said; explaining that all the charges levelled against the party were “political attempts to smear the movement, but it is able to defend the interests of its people and elected members.”

In July 2021, Mohsen al-Dali, a spokesman for the Court of First Instance in Tunis, said that a judge had opened an investigation into the charges of “receiving foreign funding.”

At the time, Al- Dali said the investigation included the Ennahda Party, which holds 53 seats in the 217-member parliament, Heart of Tunisia Party (28 seats), and the Aish Tounsi Association, which has one seat.

Ennahda Party, Heart of Tunisia Party and the Aish Tounsi Association had previously denied receiving “foreign funding.”

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