The Ennahda movement has demanded the liberation of its Secretary-General and former member of the dissolved parliament, Ajmi Lourimi, who, according to the party, “remained in custody from March 6 to March 10 without any legal basis, after his release request was rejected on Monday, the day after the trial hearing.”
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Ennahda criticized what it described as the court’s “indifference” to the release requests submitted by Lourimi’s lawyers.
The indictment chamber specializing in terrorism cases at the Tunis Court of Appeal decided last Thursday to refer Lourimi and Mossaâb Al-Gharbi (an activist from the movement) to the specialized criminal chamber of the Tunis First Instance Court. It also denied Al-Gharbi’s request for release and charged Lourimi with failing to inform the authorities about a terrorist crime he had allegedly learned about.
Ennahda also said that the movement’s two vice presidents, Ali Laarayedh and Noureddine Bhiri, are appearing in court today in what is known as the “jihadist dispatch” case, while Bhiri is also facing charges in the so-called “blog case.” The party added that Laarayedh has refused to attend the hearing in protest against the decision to hold a remote trial and to demand Bhiri’s immediate release.
It is worth noting that on October 18, the Criminal Chamber of the Tunis First Instance Court issued a preliminary ruling sentencing Ennahda leader Noureddine Bhiri to ten years in prison in the “blog case.”