TUNIS — A Tunisian court sentenced Rached Ghannouchi to life in prison plus 30 years on terrorism-related charges on April 15. The Tunis Court of First Instance found Ghannouchi guilty of “forming a terrorist alliance” and “placing skills and expertise at the disposal of a terrorist alliance and of persons linked to terrorist crimes.”
Eleven other defendants, including Ali Laarayedh, an adviser to former Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh, were also sentenced to life in prison plus additional terms of up to 96 years. Thirteen additional co-defendants received prison sentences ranging from 10 to 48 years. The court ordered all defendants to be placed under administrative monitoring for five years following their release.
Authorities opened the case against Ghannouchi and his co-defendants in early 2022 after a complaint filed by the public prosecutor’s office and lawyers representing the families of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi. Both Belaid and Brahmi, vocal critics of Ghannouchi’s Ennahdha party, were assassinated in 2013. Lawyers for their families accused Ennahdha’s “secret apparatus” of involvement in the killings and of “conducting espionage and infiltrating state institutions.”
Ennahdha denied the allegations, describing them as “politically motivated.” The public prosecutor’s office at the Ariana Court of First Instance initially handled the case before transferring it to the judicial counterterrorism unit in 2023. Tunisian authorities have denied accusations that Ghannouchi and other detainees are being held on political grounds. Ghannouchi was arrested at his home during a Ramadan gathering in 2023. In April, Ennahdha said Ghannouchi had been urgently transferred from prison to a hospital due to a sharp deterioration in his health and called for his immediate release. The opposition National Salvation Front also called for Ghannouchi’s release, citing his declining health.
The case was reported by Tunis Afrique Presse.