Long sentences for opposition leaders

A Tunisian court handed jail terms of 13 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring against state security, the state news agency TAP reported on Saturday, citing a judicial official. The opposition says the charges were fabricated and the trial a symbol of President Kais Saied's authoritarian rule, reports France24. Rights groups say Saied has had full control over the judiciary since he dissolved Parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. He dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council in 2022. The state news agency did not provide further details about the sentences. Issam Chebbi and Jawhar Ben Mbarek of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition, as well as lawyer Ridha Belhaj and activist Chaima Issa, were sentenced to 18 years behind bars, defence lawyer Abdessatar Messaoudi told AFP. Activist Khayam Turki was handed a 48-year term while businessman Kamel Eltaief received the harshest penalty of 66 years in prison, added the lawyer.

Forty people, including high-profile politicians, businessmen and journalists, were being prosecuted in the case on charges of ‘plotting against state security’ and ‘belonging to a terrorist group’. France24 says more than 20 have fled abroad since being charged. Some of the opposition defendants, including Chebbi, Ben Mbarek, Belhaj, Turki, Ghazi Chaouachi and Abdelhamid Jlassi, have been in custody since being detained in 2023. ‘In my entire life, I have never witnessed a trial like this. It's a farce, the rulings are ready, and what is happening is scandalous and shameful,’ said defence lawyer Ahmed Souab before the ruling was handed down. Authorities say the defendants, who include former officials and former head of intelligence, Kamel Guizani, tried to destabilise the country and overthrow Saied. Saied rejects accusations that he is a dictator and says he is fighting chaos and corruption that is rampant among the political elite.