Tunisia: Ghannouchi boycotts interrogation sessions

The leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda Movement, Rached Ghannouchi, yesterday boycotted his interrogation sessions, said Mukhtar Al-Jama’i, a member of Ghannouchi’s defence team.

Al-Jama’i said that summoning Ghannouchi had become a form of persecution. He confirmed that Ghannouchi had spent more than 120 hours in questioning and investigation, so he has decided to boycott any future summons.

In a Facebook post, Al-Jama’i added: “Ghannouchi will remain in his prison, and you do what you want.”

In a related issue, Tunisian politicians and lawyers confirmed yesterday that they will continue to fight and support political detainees, expressing their rejection of arbitrary actions against opponents.

This came during a solidarity stand outside the Palace of Justice at the Tunis Court of First Instance, attended by the former secretary-general of the Democratic Current Party, Ghazi Chaouachi, who was supposed to be investigated in a case filed against him by the Minister of Justice, Leila Jaffel.

On 17 April, Ennahda announced that a security squad stormed Ghannouchi’s home, and took him to an unknown destination. He was later interrogated without his lawyer president.

Later, the security forces stormed Ennahda’s headquarters following a press conference by the party regarding the arrest of Ghannouchi. The forces closed the headquarters and banned meetings from taking place there in the future.

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