Arabic version: محكمة تونسية تؤكد أحكاماً بحق شخصيات معارضة

According to Allafrica, Tunisia’s Court of Cassation on Thursday rejected the final appeal by dozens of opposition leaders, lawyers and businessmen convicted in a conspiracy case, upholding prison sentences of up to 45 years.

The November sentences cover 34 opposition figures, lawyers and businessmen. Ghazi Chaouachi, Issam Chebbi, Jawhar Ben Mbarek and Ridha Belhaj each received 20-year prison terms. Politician Noureddine Bhiri was sentenced to 10 years, while National Salvation Front leader Nejib Chebbi received 12 years.

Forty people were charged with conspiring to overthrow President Kais Saied in one of Tunisia’s largest recent political prosecutions. Twenty had fled abroad and were sentenced in absentia. Opponents said the ruling ends the three-year legal process and cannot be appealed.

Dalila Msaddek, a lawyer and Mbarek’s sister, wrote on Facebook that “the legal battle is now over” and that what begins is “a purely political battle.” Haifa Chebbi, a lawyer and Nejib Chebbi’s daughter, said the decision confirmed that the judiciary is not independent. Defence lawyers said they were notified of the hearing only on Monday and lacked enough time to prepare.

Saied has maintained that the judiciary is independent and said he would not become a dictator. Rights groups say he has controlled the judiciary since suspending parliament and taking extraordinary powers in 2021. Human Rights Watch warned that independent civic space created after the 2011 revolution has been largely shut down, while Amnesty International urged authorities to rectify what it called a travesty of justice.