Cape Town — Influential Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi, 81, was detained on Monday April 17, 2023 after a police search, Voice of America reports. Ghannounchi’s arrest has been slammed by his supporters, who say it is a stepped-up effort by President Kais Saied to quash Tunisia’s opposition.
The detention of the former parliament speaker comes amid growing social tensions and deepening economic troubles in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movement more than a decade ago.
Ghannouchi who is head of the Ennahdha party, is the most prominent critic of the president. While he has been detained for questioning in the past and released, his supporters describe Monday’s action as a more serious step.
