Rached Ghannouchi has been handed an additional three-year prison sentence over his 2016 donation of Gandhi Peace Prize money to the Tunisian Red Crescent. [Getty]
A Tunisian appeals court has sentenced imprisoned opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi to three years in prison and fined him for his decision to donate the prize money from a Gandhi Peace and Tolerance Award to the Tunisian Red Crescent, in a case that has drawn sharp criticism from rights groups.
The ruling increased an earlier two-year prison sentence imposed by a lower court, which treated the 2016 donation as a tax-evasion offence, according to Ghannouchi’s defence team.
Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement and one of President Kais Saied’s most prominent political opponents, received the Gandhi Peace and Tolerance Award in 2016 and donated the entire prize money to the Tunisian Red Crescent.
His lawyers argued that the prosecution should have been dismissed because the alleged offence dated back to October 2016 and had fallen outside the statute of limitations. They also said the case was marred by serious procedural flaws that rendered the prosecution invalid.
The defence further stressed that Ghannouchi never kept the prize money, deposited it into his personal account, or used it for personal or political purposes, saying the entire amount was donated to a national humanitarian organisation.
The Tunisia Freedom Observatory condemned the verdict, describing it as “an abusive and excessive use of the law”.
In a statement, the rights group said turning “a publicly declared humanitarian donation into the basis for a three-year prison sentence” reflected an ongoing pattern of judicial persecution against opposition politicians and activists.
The organisation also argued that using foreign funding and currency regulations to criminalise a charitable donation distorted the purpose of those laws, which were intended to regulate foreign political financing rather than personal awards or humanitarian donations.
It called for the prison sentence to be overturned, saying it was disproportionate given the absence of any personal financial gain, criminal intent, or financial harm.
The group also urged the immediate release of the 85-year-old Ghannouchi, citing his age and health.
