Tunisia’s top court upholds opposition convictions in a state security case

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s highest court has upheld the convictions of dozens of prominent opposition figures, lawyers and human rights defenders in a high-profile conspiracy case against state security.

The Court of Cassation rejected the defendants’ appeals, upholding prison sentences of up to 45 years handed down by an appeals court last year, Tunisia’s state-owned news agency TAP reported late Thursday, quoting judicial sources.

The case has drawn international criticism and further deepened concerns over judicial independence and political freedoms in Tunisia. It’s part of a broader crackdown that has seen opposition activists, journalists and lawyers arrested or prosecuted since President Kais Saied consolidated power in July 2021, when he suspended parliament, sacked the government and began ruling by decree.

Faiza Rahem, the wife of detained opposition activist Issam Chebbi, said in a news conference on Friday that the families’ legal battle would now become political.

“After four years of harassment and persecution, we will continue defending the detainees. We will not tire or give up,” she said, adding that repression had only strengthened the families’ resolve. “Our numbers have grown as authoritarianism has become more brutal, and our voices grow louder every time they try to silence us.”

The charges included conspiracy against the internal and external security of the state, forming or joining a terrorist organization and offenses related to attempts to change the form of the state.

The defendants have denied the allegations and their lawyers have repeatedly challenged the proceedings and the charges.

The president backed the charges

Saied has defended the prosecutions as part of efforts to protect national security and hold accountable those he accuses of conspiring against the state. He has previously described some of his opponents as “traitors” and “terrorists” and accused those detained in the case of seeking to destabilize the country and fuel social unrest.

Saied, who was elected in 2019 on a promise to uproot a failing political system, has rejected accusations that he is seeking to suppress the opposition. He has repeatedly defended the measures as necessary to combat corruption and protect the country from foreign threats.

Lawyers representing the defendants had criticized the timing of the hearing, saying they were notified only three days before Thursday’s court hearing, arguing that the short notice was hasty and left them without time to prepare their defense.

Amnesty expresses concern for detainees’ conditions

Among those sentenced are prominent opposition figures Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, Chaima Issa, Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, Ghazi Chaouachi, Ayachi Hammami, Khayam Turki and Abdelhamid Jelassi.

Several defendants had spent years in pretrial detention. Others had been released on bail while the case proceeded through the courts. They were later arrested to serve their sentences after the appeals court verdict.

Amnesty International had called on the Court of Cassation to overturn the convictions, describing the case as politically motivated and saying the trial was marred by due process and other violations.

Amnesty said many of those imprisoned were experiencing deteriorating health and that successive heat waves had worsened conditions inside poorly ventilated prison cells. The daughter of 82-year-old Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, lawyer Haifa Chebbi, said in August that her father had shortness of breath and severe fatigue and that prison officials were monitoring his condition.