Tunisian court opens investigation into 4 Ennahda members suspected of violence

Tunisia’s judiciary has opened an investigation into four members of the Islamist Ennahda party over violence outside parliament after the president announced emergency measures, TAP news agency said on Friday.

Among them is the bodyguard of Rached Ghannouchi, leader of Ennahda and Parliament Speaker, TAP said.

Ennahda described President Kais Saied’s announcement on Sunday as a coup and held a sit-in outside parliament early on Monday in which party members and supporters of the president pelted each other with stones and bottles.

On Monday, Ennahda held a sit-in outside parliament after it was surrounded by the army. Hundreds of supporters of Ennahda and Saied confronted each other, some throwing stones or bottles.

The judiciary said it had opened investigations into four people linked to Ennahda for “attempting to commit acts of violence” during the protest, including a member of a party council and two members with connections to its leader.

Saied’s move to seize executive control appears to have widespread popular support in Tunisia, where years of misgovernance, corruption, political paralysis and economic stagnation have been aggravated this year by a deadly surge in COVID-19 cases.