Tunisia’s ex president sentenced to 8 years in absentia
Saied intimidates electoral candidates after sentencing Tunisia’s former president to eight years in jail, according to The Associated Press.
Tunisia’s former president and fierce critic of the Saied regime, Moncef Marzouki was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in absentia, by a Tunisian court on 23rd February.
The court did not specify but ruled that Marzouki, who resides in Paris, had made statements “inciting people to take up arms against each other and provoking disorder, murder and pillaging on Tunisian soil,” in a bid to “overthrow the government.”
Moncef Marzouki was the first Tunisian president to be democratically elected, serving from 2011-2014, and remains a prominent human rights activist.
His attorney, Samir Ben Amor told AP that Marzouki’s jail sentence demonstrates “the hardening of the political line taken by the government against opponents.”
Saied’s paranoia has led to the incarceration of over 20 human rights activists and political leaders, such as Rached Ghannouchi and Jawhar Ben Mbarek.
READ: Tunisia opposition detainees begin hunger strike in prison
Families of the imprisoned Saied critics called again for their release in a press conference on 21st February. Ben Mbarek’s father even suggested that Saied was “arresting all of his political oponents.”
Although President Saied has not confirmed his plans to run for a second presidential term, he is up for re-election after his problematic and undemocratic time in office. One of the few candidates who has dared to run against Saied is Olfa Hamdi, former Tunisair CEO.
Reuters reported that Saied rejects the accusations of critics, calling them “criminals, traitors and terrorists”, while rights activists condemn Saied for restricting the press and imposing authoritarian rule.
This is Marzouki’s second prison sentence – he received four years in prison in absentia in December 2021 after criticising Saied and calling for protests. In October 2021, Saied withdrew Marzouki’s diplomatic passport, claiming that “he is among the enemies of Tunisia,” after Marzouki called for France to end its support for Saied’s leadership in Tunisia.
AP/Reuters
