US slams Tunisia's arrest of Ghannouchi

The US State Department yesterday condemned Tunisia’s arrest of former Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi, the closure of his party’s headquarters and the banning of meetings held by opposition groups.

In a statement, the US said: “The arrests by the Tunisian government of political opponents and critics are fundamentally at odds with the principles Tunisians adopted in a constitution that explicitly guarantees freedom of opinion, thought, and expression.” “The Tunisian government’s obligation to respect freedom of expression and other human rights is larger than any individual or political party, and is essential to a vibrant democracy and to the U.S.-Tunisia relationship.”

The Ennahda movement had announced that Ghannouchi was arrested on Monday by a security unit that raided his home in the capital and took him to an “unknown location” before it announced that he was undergoing interrogation at a security barracks in the capital. His family said he was not allowed to meet with his lawyer or have him present during the interrogation.

A day later security forces raided Ennahda’s offices, vacated them, shuttered them and banned all meetings of the Ennahda Party and the National Salvation Front across the country.

READ: Tunisia’s Ennahda Party leader Ghannouchi arrested by security forces for interrogation