Tunisia's Ennahda movement confirmed on Monday evening that security forces arrested its president, Rached Ghannouchi, after raiding his home in the capital.
The movement said – in a statement – that the arrest of Ghannouchi was without respect for the simplest legal procedures, and described what happened as a very dangerous development, and demanded his immediate release, and the cessation of what it described as the abuse of opposition political activists.
The movement also called on its so-called liberals to stand united in the face of what it described as repressive practices that violate rights and freedoms and the symptoms of opposition politicians.
Ghannouchi's lawyer confirmed that the security force searched her client's house and then took him to the headquarters of the National Guard Division in the capital for interrogation.
An official source at the Tunisian Interior Ministry confirmed in a statement to the official news agency the arrest of Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi by order of the Public Prosecution at the Judicial Pole for Combating Terrorism after searching his house.
The source pointed out that Ghannouchi's arrest comes against the backdrop of statements that the Public Prosecution considered inflammatory.
Ghannouchi's defense lawyers said they were prevented from meeting with their client, and explained that prosecutors made the decision to interrogate Ghannouchi without a lawyer present for 48 hours, as the counterterrorism law allows.
On the other hand, the spokesman for the dissolved parliament Maher Mathyoub said that Ghannouchi calls for calm and preservation of Tunisia and continue to work to overthrow what he described as a coup, as he put it.
The head of Ennahda has been under investigation for some time in several cases. In recent months, authorities have arrested a number of dissidents, including Ali Larayedh, deputy head of Ennahda. Some of the arrested dissidents were charged with conspiring against state security.