A Tunisian court has sentenced opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers to between 13 and 66 years in prison for violating national security, in a trial that rights activists have called a “farce.”
A Tunisian court has sentenced opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers to between 13 and 66 years in prison after finding them guilty of conspiring against state security, Tunisian state media reported on Saturday.
But the opposition says the charges are fabricated and the trial is a symbol of President Kais Saied’s authoritarian rule.
What’s known about the case
State news agency TAP reported the defendants were sentenced to between 13 and 66 years in prison. The sentences were implemented immediately, TAP reported, citing a justice ministry spokesman.
A total of 40 people were charged. More than half of them have fled abroad since the charges were filed.
Tunisian media reported that the defendants were convicted of “threatening state security and being part of a terrorist group.”
Authorities accused the defendants of trying to destabilize the country and overthrow Saied.
Many of those sentenced were outspoken critics of the president, including the leader of the main opposition National Salvation Front, Nejib Chebbi.
Chebbi told reporters before the verdict was announced on Friday that the case showed that Tunisian authorities wanted to “prove the opposition guilty.”
Others sentenced include Issam Chebbi, the brother of Nejib Chebbi, leader of the moderate Republican Party, Ghazi Chouachi, head of the center-left Democratic Current party, and Abdel Hamid Zelasi of the Islamic Democratic Ennahda party. Former intelligence chief Kamel Guizan is also among the defendants.
Before the sentencing hearing, defense lawyer Ahmed Souad described the trial as a “farce.”
The trial, which began in March, has been postponed twice. Journalists and civil society representatives have been barred from attending the hearings.
What President Kais has done since taking office
In Tunisia, the only country to establish democracy since the Arab Spring, Kais Saied was elected in 2019 by a popular anti-corruption coalition.
Two years after taking office, he seized sweeping powers by dissolving parliament and began ruling by decree.
Since then, the country has seen a spate of dismissals of judges and arrests of major political rivals.
Kais Saied was re-elected in the first round of voting in October last year. Observers have called the election, which saw record low voter turnout, a “farce.”
Human rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about Saied’s rule.
In a recent report, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch said that Tunisia has seen a “surge in arbitrary detentions and politically motivated prosecutions to intimidate, punish, and silence critics.”
Saeed has rejected accusations that he is becoming an “autocrat.” He claims that he is fighting chaos and corruption among the political elite.
