Defence lawyers for Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Tunisian opposition Ennahda Movement, have insisted that he is innocent of the charges brought against him in the “lobbying” foreign funding case. They stress that there is no evidence that he received any money from overseas sources.
Ghannouchi’s defence team made its comment after the Court of Appeal in Tunis upheld his three-year prison sentence.
The case relates to suspicions that some parties in Tunisia received foreign funding to support their campaigns during the 2019 election. The investigation began in July 2021 against several parties, including Ennahda and Qalb Tounes, as well as the Aish Tounsi Association.
The defence team explained that Ghannouchi did not receive any foreign funding in his personal capacity or as a legal representative of Ennahda, and did not sign any advertising contracts or task anyone to do so on his behalf. His lawyers also criticised the court’s ruling, and described it as a flagrant violation of the rights of the defence, because it was issued in haste despite the file not being ready.
Ghannouchi was arrested in April 2023 during a raid at his home. He faced charges related to “incitement and glorification of terrorism”.
It is believed by many that his arrest was part of an official campaign of arrests of opposition figures and activists who opposed the measures introduced by President Kais Saied in July 2021, included dissolving the judiciary and the House of Representatives, issuing legislation by presidential decree, approving a new constitution through a popular referendum. This, say opponents, was a “coup” against the 2014 constitution.