Tunisian opposition party leader sentenced to 3 years as crackdown on president’s critics continues

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA and SAM METZ
Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The head of Tunisia’s largest opposition party has been sentenced to three years in prison. It’s the latest display of the North African country’s crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied. Rached Ghannouchi, the 82-year-old president of the Islamist party Ennahdha, was sentenced Thursday along with his son in-law on embezzlement convictions. The charges were based on allegations the party relied on foreign financing to bankroll its political campaigns in 2019. The court also ordered Ghannouchi and his party to pay a $1.17 million fine. Ennahdha’s spokesperson says: “We have neither received any funding from abroad nor sent any funds abroad.”