Longer sentence signals turning point for Tunisia’s opposition

A Tunisian court of appeal has increased the prison sentence of opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi to 20 years, deepening a sweeping crackdown on political dissent under President Kais Saied, as reported by Middle East Eye via AFP on February 3rd.

The ruling, confirmed on February 3rd by one of Ghannouchi’s lawyers, includes charges of “conspiracy against the internal security of the state.”

Ghannouchi, the former speaker of parliament and leader of the Ennahda party, has been imprisoned since 2023 and was previously sentenced to 14 years in prison in the same case. The latest verdict raises his total prison term to more than 40 years.

According to his defence team, Ghannouchi will not appeal the decision to Tunisia’s Supreme Court, arguing that the judicial process offers no guarantee of a fair trial. His lawyers described the charges as politically motivated and “fabricated from start to finish.”

The case forms part of a broader wave of prosecutions targeting political opponents since President Saied’s July 2021 power grab, when he dissolved parliament and consolidated executive authority.

Since then, opposition figures, lawyers, journalists, and activists have faced arrest and lengthy prison sentences, drawing sustained criticism from international human rights organisations.

Around 20 individuals were tried in the case, including Saied’s former chief of staff, Nadia Akacha, and former prime minister Youssef Chahed, both of whom remain abroad.

Ghannouchi and other Ennahda figures, including his son-in-law Rafik Abdessalem, were accused of establishing a clandestine security network tied to the party — allegations Ennahda has repeatedly denied.

Before President Saied consolidated power in July 2021, Ennahda was the dominant force in Tunisia’s post-revolutionary political landscape. Ghannouchi was serving as speaker of parliament when Saied dismissed then-prime minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended the legislature, later replacing it with a new parliament stripped of most of its authority.

Since that move, local and international human rights organisations have warned of a steady erosion of civil liberties in Tunisia, citing mass trials, prolonged pre-trial detention, and the growing use of the judiciary against political opponents.

The trials have resulted in sentences of between 13 and 66 years in prison, with high-profile politicians, journalists, lawyers, and judges being among those sentenced for “conspiring against the state.”

Middle East Eye via AFP, Maghrebi.org