Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi handed longer sentence
Tunisia has increased to 20 years the prison sentence handed down to opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi, accused of conspiracy against President Kais Saied in the so-called "Conspiracy 2" case.
The Tunis court of appeal "decided on a 20-year prison sentence for Rached Ghannouchi", including for "conspiracy against the internal security of the state", one of his lawyers told AFP on Tuesday.
Ghannouchi, who has been imprisoned since 2023, was initially sentenced to 14 years in prison in this case. This verdict brings his total prison term to over 40 years.
According to his defence team, Ghannouchi has decided not to appeal to the supreme court, as he is "convinced of the complete lack of guarantees of a fair trial" and faced with "politically motivated cases fabricated from start to finish".
Since Saied's coup in July 2021, in which he granted himself sweeping powers, numerous Tunisian opposition figures, lawyers, activists, aid workers and journalists have been arrested and given harsh prison sentences, drawing criticism from local and international rights bodies that have denounced the trials as politically motivated.
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Around 20 people, including Saied’s former chief of staff, Nadia Akacha, and former Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, who fled abroad, were on trial for "conspiracy against the internal security of the state" and "forming an organisation and an agreement related to terrorist crimes".
In this so-called "Conspiracy 2" case, Ghannouchi and other Ennahda leaders, including his son-in-law Rafik Abdessalem, as well as Kamel Bedoui, a retired military officer, are accused of having established a "secret security apparatus" at the party's service.
Bedoui also saw his initial sentence increased from 14 to 20 years' imprisonment. Akacha and Abdessalem, tried in absentia, were sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment, the same as in the first instance, according to several media outlets.
In a first major conspiracy trial, sentences ranging from five to 45 years in prison were handed down on appeal at the end of November against 34 political opponents, including several prominent figures.
Until Saied’s power grab in July 2021, Ghannouchi's Ennahda party, which came to power after the 2011 revolution, dominated the country's political life.
Ghannouchi was the speaker of parliament when Saied dismissed his prime minister, Hichem Mechichi, in July 2021 and suspended parliament before electing a new one with significantly reduced powers.
Since then, local and foreign human rights defenders have deplored a regression of rights and freedoms in the North African country.
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