Ennahda Leader Hails Release of Party Official as ‘new start’ for Tunisia

TUNIS, Tunisia (AA) – Ennahda’s Rached Ghannouchi on Tuesday hailed the release of a senior party official by Tunisian authorities as “a new start” for the country.

Noureddine el-Beheiry, Ennahda’s deputy leader, was released on Monday evening after being under house arrest since Dec. 31, 2021, over “terror” accusations related to the illegal issuing of passports and travel documents to a Syrian national and his wife.

The former Interior Ministry official Fathi al-Baladi, who was detained on the same day el-Beheiry was arrested, was also released.

Ennahda, el-Beheiry’s family, and his defense team denied the terror accusations, describing them as “politicized” and called for his immediate release.

In protest against his detention, el-Beheiry went on hunger strike, causing his health to deteriorate.

“It is a historic moment,” Ghannouchi told Anadolu Agency while visiting el-Beheiry at his house in Bizerte province, describing the official’s release as if he “returned to us from another world.”

“Our hope in him staying alive was dim as he was slowly dying before our eyes while we were unable to do anything,” he added.

Ghannouchi, who is also the Parliament Speaker, slammed “revenge” actions pursued by Tunisian authorities.

“We believe that Tunisia does not need such revenge to address its economic, social and political problems,” he said. “What happened reminds us of things against which revolutions took place.”

He stressed the need for tolerance and dialogue to solve the crisis in the country while also calling for the release of all other detainees.

Meanwhile, Saeeda Al-Akrimi, el-Beheiry’s wife and a lawyer, told Anadolu Agency she was happy to see her husband released after his 67-day detention.

Last July, Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed the government, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority amid mounting public anger over economic stagnation and political paralysis.

While Saied insists that his “exceptional measures” were meant to “save” the country, critics have accused him of orchestrating a coup.

Tunisia has been seen as the only country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among Arab countries which witnessed popular revolutions toppling ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya and Yemen, during the last decade.