Tunisia: Mondher Lounissi, former interim president of Ennahda, kept in detention

The indictment chamber specialized in terrorism cases of the Tunis Court of Appeal recently decided to refer Mondher Lounissi, the former interim president of the Ennahda movement, to the criminal chamber specialized in terrorism matters of the Court of First Instance of Tunis, while rejecting his request for release, according to his attorney Mokhtar Jemai.

Case details

The case against Lounissi originates from an audio recording attributed to him. Following this, the investigating judge of the judicial counter-terrorism unit initially issued an arrest warrant against him.

After a period of pre-trial detention, the decision to shut the investigation was taken, leading to his recent referral to justice.

The charges against him include failure to report terrorist crimes and cooperation with foreign entities to harm the interests of the Tunisian state.

Despite appeals from his lawyers, the indictment chamber confirmed the decision to continue Lounissi’s trial for these grave charges.