According to the main opposition coalition in Tunisia, Abdel Karim Harouni, a prominent member of the opposition Ennahda Islamist Party, has been placed under house arrest by the government.

The highest-ranking body of Ennahda, the major political party in the parliament that was abolished by President Kais Saied in 2021, is led by Harouni, who also serves as its leader.

The “arbitrary decision” against Harouni, according to the Salvation Front coalition, was made in relation to the detention of Ennahda officials and the shutdown of their offices.

Rached Ghannouchi, the party’s head and the president’s most vocal critic, was detained this year, as were numerous other party officials, including Noureddine Bhiri, Riadh Bettaib, Said Ferjani, Sahbi Atigue, and Mohamed Ben Salem.

The government also prohibited meetings at all Ennahda offices and closed all party offices, which Ennahda claimed was done to consolidate a totalitarian dictatorship.

This year, police arrested prominent political personalities who accused Saied of staging a coup when he shut down the elected parliament in 2021 and tried to rule by decree before amending the constitution. Those imprisoned have been labelled as “terrorists, traitors, and criminals” by Saied.

The arrests of opposition leaders have been condemned as politically motivated, and local and international rights groups have asked authorities to release the detainees.