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| Africa North |
| Tunisia opposition figures get jail terms in mass trial; defense pans ‘masquerade’ |
| 2025-04-21 |
| [IsraelTimes] Court hands out sentences of up to 66 years for 40 defendants, including prominent opponents of President Saied; French intellectual Bernard Henri-Levy said ordered jailed in absentia A Tunisian court has handed down jail sentences of up to 66 years to multiple defendants, including prominent opposition figures, in a mass trial criticized by rights groups. The trial, decried by a defense lawyer as a "masquerade," is of unprecedented scale with around 40 defendants including vocal critics of President Kais Saied. A prosecutor cited on Saturday by local media announced sentences ranging from 13 to 66 years for the defendants, accused of "conspiracy against state security" and "belonging to a terrorist group." However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... a list communicated to AFP by several lawyers, and "subject to official confirmation," indicates minimum sentences of four years. Among those sentenced were well-known opposition figures, lawyers and business people, with some already in prison for two years while others were in exile or still free. Appeals are planned, defense lawyer Abdessatar Messaoudi said. Bassam Khawaja of Human Rights Watch posted on X: "The court did not give even a semblance of a fair trial." The charges, he said, "appear unfounded and based on no credible evidence." According to the list supplied by lawyers, those accused who are abroad, including French intellectual Bernard Henri-Levy, received 33-year jail terms. The same penalty was handed down to feminist activist Bochra Belhaj Hmida and the former head of the presidential office, Nadia Akacha. 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, Messaoudi told AFP. HARSHEST PENALTY Activist Khayam Turki was handed a 48-year term while businessman Kamel Eltaief received the harshest penalty — 66 years in prison, the list showed. Turki’s cousin, Hayder Turki, told AFP he was "very saddened" by the verdict, saying: "He doesn’t deserve this — he’s a great man, his crime was being involved in politics." Two former leaders of the Islamist Ennahdha party, ...the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia... which was Saied’s main rival, were also sentenced. Abdelhamid Jelassi and Noureddine Bhiri received 13 and 43 years respectively, according to the list.Kamel Jendoubi, a rights advocate and former minister tried in absentia, decried a "judicial liquidation" by the courts. "This is not a judiciary ruling, but a political decree executed by judges under orders, by complicit prosecutors and by a justice minister" who all serve "a paranoid autocrat," Jendoubi charged. Since Saied launched a power grab in the summer of 2021 and assumed total control, rights advocates and opposition figures have decried a rollback of freedoms in the North African country where the 2011 Arab Spring began. Late Friday, defense lawyers denounced the trial after the judge finished reading the accusations and began deliberation without hearing from either the prosecution or the defense. One lawyer, Samia Abbou, told AFP there were "flagrant violations of judicial procedure" with the accused "not heard" during the "masquerade." Friday’s hearing lasted much of the day and was held amid tight security. Media and foreign diplomats were barred from the proceedings. Since the trial began on March 4, defense lawyers have repeatedly called for all the defendants to appear in court, including at least six who went on a hunger strike. The lawyers denounced the case as "empty," while HRW said the trial was taking place in the context of repression with Saied "weaponizing the judicial system to target opponents and dissidents." Analyst Hatem Nafti posted on X that any acquittal in the mass trial "would have negated the conspiratorial narrative that the regime has relied on since 2021" and "accepted by a large part of the population" relying on restricted media coverage. Related: Tunisia: 2025-04-19 US envoy: I’m sure Edan Alexander is in a decent place; we’ll come for Hamas if he’s harmed Tunisia: 2025-04-16 Cultural Factors Drive 'Disproportionate' Crime Among Migrant Groups: Renowned Swiss Psychiatrist Tunisia: 2025-04-15 Trump admin secures release of American missionary held in Tunisia for 13 months, 27th American prisoner Trump got freed |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 The fact that Ennahda Party (Muslim Brotherhood) was attacked indicates that the shotgun approach seems to indicte a reduction of political party influence and a return to Strong Man rule that dominated Tunisia for years following its independence. |
| Posted by: Muggsy Peacock6312 2025-04-21 07:43 |