World News | Tunisia Opposition Leader Investigated on Terrorism Charges

Tunis (Tunisia), Jul 18 (AP) The leader of Tunisia's main opposition party is due to be questioned by the country's anti-terrorism unit on Tuesday on suspicion of money laundering and terrorist financing through an association charity.

The accused, Rached Ghannouchi, was among a dozen top Ennahdha party officials whose bank accounts the north African country's central bank froze earlier this month. Ennahdha vehemently disputes the accusations of money laundering and terrorism financing.

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President Kais Saied suspended parliament last year and seized broad powers in a move that he said was necessary to “save the country” from a political and economic crisis. This prompted criticism from the opposition, which accuses him of a slide toward totalitarianism.

Ennahdha has said that these accusations are aimed at distracting attention from a July 25 referendum planned by Saied to change the constitution to augment presidential powers and reduce the role of the parliament and prime minister. The president's critics say he is trying to legitimise a “coup”.

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Opposition figure Nejib Chebbi said he feared for Ghannouchi's arrest after the hearing, denouncing what he called a “harassment campaign” unleashed by the government against “leading political figures”.

Saied and some others blamed Ennahdha in part for Tunisia's political crisis last year. Ennahdha, which dominated parliament before it was suspended, is among the president's fiercest critics. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)