Tunisian Opposition Figures Sentenced in Controversial Trial
A Tunisian court has sentenced opposition leaders, businessmen, and lawyers to prison terms ranging from 13 to 66 years after convicting them of conspiring against state security, state media reported on Saturday. The defendants, including prominent critics of President Kais Saied, were accused of attempting to destabilize the country and overthrow the government.
The opposition has dismissed the charges as politically motivated, calling the trial a symbol of Saied’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
Harsh Sentences and Allegations of Persecution
State news agency TAP reported that the sentences, handed down late Friday, were enforced immediately. Of the 40 individuals prosecuted in the case, more than half had already fled abroad before the trial concluded.
According to Tunisian media, the defendants were convicted of "conspiracy against state security" and "belonging to a terrorist group." Among those sentenced was Nejib Chebbi, leader of the main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, who had denounced the trial as an effort to "criminalize the opposition."
Other high-profile defendants included:
Issam Chebbi, Nejib’s brother and head of the centrist Republican Party
Ghazi Chaouachi, leader of the center-left Democratic Current party
Abdelhamid Jelassi, a member of the Islamic democratic movement Ennahda
Kamel Guizan, a former intelligence chief
Defense lawyer Ahmed Souab condemned the proceedings as a "farce," while journalists and civil society groups were barred from attending the hearings.
Backlash Against Saied’s Crackdown
Tunisia, once hailed as the Arab Spring’s sole democratic success story, has seen a sharp decline in political freedoms since Saied’s election in 2019. After dissolving parliament and ruling by decree in 2021, he has overseen the dismissal of judges and the arrest of political rivals.
Saied secured a second term in October in an election marred by low turnout and accusations of being a sham. Human rights groups have repeatedly warned of escalating repression under his leadership.
In a recent report, Human Rights Watch accused Tunisian authorities of using "arbitrary detention and politically motivated prosecutions to intimidate and silence critics." Saied denies allegations of authoritarianism, insisting he is combating corruption and chaos within the political elite.
The case has drawn international condemnation, with former minister Kamel Jendoubi, tried in absentia, calling the verdicts "political decrees executed by judges under orders."
As discontent grows over Tunisia’s democratic backsliding, rights group Amnesty International has warned of a "worrying decline in fundamental freedoms" under Saied’s rule.