A protest march by the Tunisian opposition to demand the release of opponents (Al Jazeera)

Tunisia -

Opponents believe that the continued detention of a number of prominent opponents of President Kais Saied a year ago will affect the credibility of the presidential elections scheduled to be held next fall.

This comes at a time when a number of opposition detainees announced a hunger strike in the Mornaguia prison in the capital, Tunis, including the head of the Ennahda movement, Rached Ghannouchi.

Yesterday, Monday, Ennahdha President and Speaker of the dissolved Parliament, Ghannouchi, went on an open hunger strike to demand the release of him and the rest of the political prisoners.

At the beginning of this February, the Court of First Instance in Tunisia issued a three-year prison sentence against Ghannouchi on charges that his party received funding from a foreign party.

Ghannouchi is being tried in approximately 9 cases, according to his defense, and the police arrested him after raiding his home on April 17, 2023, on suspicion of “conspiracy against state security.”

"dark"

A week ago, 6 politicians arrested on charges of “conspiring against state security” - according to the authority’s announcements - went on a hunger strike a full year after their arrest.

These detainees are the Secretary-General of the Republican Party, Issam Chebbi, the former Secretary-General of the Democratic Current Party, Ghazi Chaouachi, the two leaders of the opposition Salvation Front, Jawhar Ben Mubarak and Reda Bel-Hajj, the political activist Khayyam Al-Turki, and the former leader of the Ennahda Movement, Abdel Hamid Al-Jalasi.

These people are not on a united front, but rather differ in terms of political affiliations, and for their supporters, they are “victims of a monolithic authority that does not differentiate between political colors.”

Ennahdha Movement spokesman Imad Al-Khamiri says that defense lawyers familiar with all stages of the investigation confirm that the files of the detainees are free of any material crimes that convict them.

He added to Al Jazeera Net that the detained politicians' entry into a hunger strike aims to demonstrate to national and international public opinion that they have been subjected to "oppression" because of their political opinions. He explains that the common denominator between the various imprisoned political leaders is their opposition to the course of July 25, 2021 imposed by President Kais Saied.

On that date, Saied took a number of “exceptional measures,” including dissolving Parliament and the Supreme Judicial Council, dismissing the government of Hisham Mechichi, and ruling the country by decree.

After that, Saied drafted a new constitution that changed the system of government from parliamentary to presidential, and established a new parliament that the opposition considered an obedient tool in the hands of the president, who “ruled alone.”

Al-Khamiri believes that targeting opponents “cannot prolong the life of an oppressive regime, no matter how powerful it is,” and pointed to what he described as “the return of the current authority to the square of tyranny and the destruction of freedoms.”

Questioning

It is not known when the arrested opponents will be released, although the maximum detention period for criminal offenses reaches 14 months according to Tunisian law.

Al-Khamiri says, "We do not know when this grievance will be lifted from them, because the current regime controls the tools of the state and has control over the judicial authority, but we hope that the authority will return to its senses."

He believes that the indicators related to the continued arrest of a number of opponents and the restrictions on the activity of opposition parties and freedom of opinion do not prepare for fair elections.

Members of the Election Commission confirmed that the presidential elections will be held between next September and October. President Kais Saied confirmed that the election date will be respected.

The Ennahda Movement spokesman adds, “The prosecution of opponents, journalists, and trade unionists proves that the conditions are not available for holding fair and transparent elections, and reveals the clouds swirling around the elections.”

There are no guarantees for fair elections

In turn, Secretary-General of the Labor and Achievement Party, Abdul Latif Al-Makki, says that the country is living through the tragedy of arresting opponents because of their opinions, and memory will only increase the wounds.

He added, "What happened last July 25 was a coup, and a coup cannot coexist with freedom," criticizing what he considered the current authority's dominance over the judiciary.

He confirms to Al Jazeera Net that the government's continued targeting of freedoms, parties, and opponents does not provide the minimum conditions and guarantees for holding fair and transparent elections.

Al-Makki criticized the continued detention of the leader of the Ennahda movement, despite his advanced age (82 years), and did not rule out the deterioration of Ghannouchi’s health condition at any moment after he went on a hunger strike.

Appeal to the judiciary

On the other hand, supporters of President Saied - who consider what he did on July 25 to be a corrective path for the revolution - see the judiciary as the decisive factor in deciding the cases of arrested opponents.

They accuse those who ruled after the revolution - especially the Ennahda movement - of deviating from its goals, serving its own interests, and being involved in corruption and terrorism, despite its denials.

They disavow President Saied from all accusations of attacking freedoms, party pluralism, and the deterioration of the situation, holding those who ruled after the revolution responsible for the deterioration of the situation in the country.

They confirm that the president is committed to holding the elections on time without changing the electoral law and the rules of the electoral game, and that the race is open to everyone, including those in prison.

The spokesman for the Election Commission, Muhammad al-Talili al-Mansri, confirmed that the electoral law does not prevent imprisoned persons or those “subject to judicial jurisdiction” from running for elections.

Source: Al Jazeera