The Tunisian opposition movement, 'class='highlighted-tag'>, announced that its president , Rashid Ghannouchi , was arrested on Monday evening by a security unit that raided his house in the capital and took him to an "unknown destination."

The party said in a statement on its Facebook page that "a security squad raided the home of Professor Rashid Ghannouchi, head of the Ennahda Movement, and took him to an unknown destination without respecting the most basic legal procedures."

Ghannouchi is one of the most prominent opponents of President Qais Saied , who has monopolized power in the country since 2021. The leader of Ennahda was the speaker of Parliament, which Saied dissolved in 2022.

The judicial authorities in Tunisia did not comment on the reasons for this arrest, which comes after statements attributed to Ghannouchi by local media at the end of last week, in which he said that "Tunisia without political Islam is a civil war project."

In its statement, Ennahda described the arrest of its leader as a "very dangerous development," calling for "the immediate release of Professor Rashid Ghannouchi, and an end to the permissiveness of opposition political activists."
It called on the movement to "stand together in the face of these repressive practices that violate rights, freedoms, and honor of opposition politicians."

Ghannouchi, 82, was repeatedly brought before the judicial pole to combat terrorism as part of his investigations in several cases related to terrorism and corruption.

In previous statements, Ghannouchi said, "Our opponents were unable to confront us through democratic means, so they resorted to using the judiciary."

He added, "There is political targeting of the opposition and it is done with empty files. Fabricated trials and files... targeting the opposition with empty files... to camouflage and divert attention from the real problems of Tunisia."

In November 2022, Ghannouchi was brought before an investigative judge specializing in terrorism cases for interrogation in a case related to charges of "traveling jihadists" from Tunisia to Syria and Iraq.
Ghannouchi was also summoned last July 19 for interrogation in a case related to money laundering and corruption, on charges that Ennahda denied.

Since the beginning of February, at least ten personalities, most of them opposition figures belonging to the Ennahda Party and its allies, have been arrested, in addition to Noureddine Boutar, director of a large private radio station and an influential businessman.

President Saeed described the detainees as "terrorists" and accused them of "conspiring against the internal and external security of the state."

The non-governmental organization Amnesty International considered that this campaign of arrests is "a deliberate attempt to stifle the opposition, especially criticism of the president," and urged Saeed to "stop this campaign, which has political considerations."

Since July 25, 2021, Saied has seized power and amended the constitution to establish a presidential system at the expense of Parliament, which no longer has actual powers.