Tunisia's jailed Ennahda leader Ghannouchi calls for democracy, rule of law in prison message

Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of Tunisia's Ennahda Movement and former parliament speaker, delivered a defiant message from Mornaguia Prison near Tunis on Sunday, asserting that his country's political future must be built on democracy, the rule of law, and peaceful alternation of power. Ghannouchi argued that nations "are not built on repression nor stabilized by injustice, but rather on consultation, justice and respect for the will of the people."

Democracy and Islamic Principles

In his message addressed to Ennahda members, Ghannouchi described democracy as a peaceful mechanism for power alternation and rights protection, contending it is compatible with Islamic principles aimed at preventing tyranny and safeguarding human dignity. "Tunisia's future is freedom, even if after a while. Its future is a state of law, institutions and peaceful alternation of power, with respect for pluralism and difference," he wrote, acknowledging that political paths may falter but asserting that "living nations do not die and the will for freedom is not defeated forever."

Legal Context and Political Divide

Ghannouchi has been detained since April 2023, with a Tunisian appeals court increasing his sentence to 20 years on February 3 on charges of conspiring against state security. Tunisian authorities deny political interference in judicial proceedings, maintaining defendants are prosecuted on criminal charges. Critics and opposition figures view the cases as targeting opponents of President Kais Saied's exceptional measures introduced in July 2021, which Saied defends as necessary to protect the state and restore order, rejecting accusations of rolling back democratic freedoms.