Hamadi Jebali

Hamadi Jebali (, ; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Movement, a moderate Islamic party in Tunisia, until he left his party in December 2014 in the course of the 2014 Tunisian presidential election. Early life, education and professional life Born in Sousse in 1949, Jebali received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Tunis University and added a masters programme in photovoltaic engineering in Paris, France. As a specialist in solar energy and wind power, he founded his own enterprise in Sousse. Political and journalistic activity In 1981 he became involved with Tunisia's Islamist movement, then called Movement of the Islamic Tendency. He was director and editor-in-chief of Al-Fajr (Dawn), the former weekly newspaper of the Islamist Ennahda Party. Moreover, he served as longtime member of the party's executive council and remains secretary-general of Ennahda. Criminal prosecution and imprisonment In June 1990, Al-Fajr published an article by Rashid al-Ghannushi called "The people of the State or the State of the People?" Jebali was made responsible for the publication and received a suspended sentence and a 1,500 dinars fine for the offences of "encouraging violation of the law" and "calling for insurrection". In November 1990, the Islamist newspaper contained an essay by the lawyer Mohammed Nouri, entitled "When will military courts, serving as special courts, be abolished?" This time, a military court sentenced Hamadi Jebali to one year in prison for "defamation of a judicial institution".