A Tunisian court on Friday issued a travel ban against the leader of the Islamist Ennahda party and speaker of the dissolved parliament, Rachid Ghanuchi, as part of an investigation against him for alleged corruption.
The investigating judge in charge of the ‘Instalingo’ case, Rochdi ben Romdhane, has ordered that Ghanuchi cannot leave the country amid investigations, although he has allowed him to remain at liberty while the proceedings continue, Radio Mosaique reported.
Ghanuchi had claimed after the decision on his continued release that the judge had found no evidence of his or Ennahda’s involvement in a corruption case.
He also denounced that the current situation in the country, presided over by Kais Saied, «is worse» than during the regime of Zine el Abidine ben Ali — overthrown in 2011 amid a popular uprising during the ‘Arab Spring’ –. «Fortunately, justice is independent,» he said.
The ‘Instalingo’ case revolves around a specialized company dedicated to content generation and stems from October 2021, when authorities arrested several of its workers for «offenses against the president» and «plotting against state security.»
Since then, journalists, bloggers and politicians, including Ghanuchi, his daughter and former Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Larui have been summoned to testify. Ennahda has denounced the politicization of the case, as well as others opened in recent months against senior party officials.
In this context, a Tunisian court in July ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of ten people, including Ghanuchi and former Prime Minister Hamadi Yebali, in connection with an investigation into alleged corruption involving the Nama Tunes charity organization.
Tunisia is mired in a serious political crisis following Saied’s decision in July 2021 to dissolve the government and suspend the parliament, subsequently dissolved, amid opposition allegations of an authoritarian drift on the part of the president.
The country is preparing for early legislative elections in December, which will be boycotted by the majority of the opposition, which has already boycotted the July constitutional referendum, which strengthened the powers of the President and reduced the weight of the Parliament.
