Tunis: A court in Tunisia has sentenced 40 senior politicians, lawyers, and business figures, many in absentia to long prison terms on charges of conspiracy against state security and belonging to a terrorist group.
The trial has drawn international concern, with human rights groups describing it as an attempt to suppress political dissent.
Among those sentenced are key leaders of the National Salvation Front, the country’s main opposition coalition, including Professor Issam Chebbi and Jawhar Ben Mbarek, who received 18-year sentences.
Businessman and activist Kamel Eltaief was handed the harshest penalty, 66 years in prison. Many defendants had fled Tunisia before the trial and were sentenced in absentia.
Former minister Kamel Jendoubi, also tried in absentia, condemned the verdict, calling it “a political decree executed by judges under orders.”
Defense lawyer Ahmed Souab criticized the proceedings as unprecedented and theatrical, stating that, “I’ve never witnessed a trial like this. It’s a farce.”
The mass sentencing is the latest development in President Kais Saied’s increasing consolidation of power since his 2019 election. He suspended parliament and has since jailed opponents and rivals.
Saied was re-elected in 2023 by a landslide amid rising criticism of his authoritarian governance.
Amnesty International and other rights groups have warned of a severe erosion of civil liberties and democratic norms under Saied’s rule. However, the president has dismissed these accusations, insisting that his actions target a corrupt elite and national ‘traitors.’
The crackdown reflects Tunisia’s deepening political crisis, raising alarms in the country that once symbolized the promise of the Arab Spring, which began there in 2010 with the ousting of longtime ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Last year marked Tunisia’s third presidential election since that historic uprising.
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