Lawyer: AI was used to fabricate voice of Ennahda interim leader

Artificial Intelligence (AI) was used to “fabricate” the voice of the interim leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda movement, Dr. Mundhir Al-Wanisi, in the recent audio leaks attributed to him, member of his defence team Murad Al-Obeidi has said.

In an interview with a local radio station yesterday, Al-Obeidi said he had asked the public prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in the capital, Tunis, to conduct a second test to confirm the authenticity of the recording attributed to his client.

He stressed that the defence team is convinced that “artificial intelligence was used to fabricate his voice.”

Earlier this month, Al-Wanisi denied the authenticity of a leaked audio recording attributed to him which includes criticism of senior figures in the movement, including the family of imprisoned Ennahda leader, Rached Ghannouchi.

In the recording, Al-Wanisi is alleged to have attacked the Ghannouchi family and a number of the movement’s leaders, and talks about “corruption” within the movement as well as receiving money from abroad.

Later, the Tunisian authorities arrested Al-Wanisi to investigate the leak, but instead he was investigated by the anti-terrorism judicial pole, which the defence team considered an attempt by the Tunisia authorities to politicise the file and change its wording with the aim of persecuting opponents of President Kais Saied.

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