Release Rached Ghannouchi and all Tunisian political prisoners

Tunis - CAGE International lends its voice to growing global calls for the unconditional release of Tunisian opposition leader, Rached Ghannouchi.

The 84-year-old co-founder of Ennahda Party and former speaker of parliament was earlier this month sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for supposedly “conspiring against state security”.

Having been arrested in 2023, Ghannouchi has faced trumped-up charges in multiple cases, and had already received three separate sentences totalling over 20 years imprisonment.

A case has been brought by relatives of Ghannouchi and others before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, against the Tunisian government.  

Ghannouchi and fellow political prisoners have been subjected to a systematic campaign of political persecution following Tunisian President Kais Saied’s 2021 suspension of parliament. 

Saied won elections in 2019, but subsequently began an authoritarian power grab by rewriting the constitution and concentrating power in his hands. In 2023, parliament reconvened after an election boycotted by opposition parties in which only 11% of the voting population participated. 

CAGE International’s Head of Public Advocacy, Anas Mustapha said:

“The hard-won civil liberties acquired by the Tunisian people after the Jasmine Revolution – which sparked the broader Arab Spring - are now being systematically eroded by President Saied.”

“The baseless accusations against Ghannouchi, the repeated sham trials and poor conditions in which he is being held must be condemned as human rights violations. We urge the global community to rally behind the call made by the International Committee for Solidarity with Rached Ghannouchi, demanding his release.”