Tunisia: Eight sentenced to death for political leader assassination

In Tunisia, courts have sentenced eight people to death for the assassination of a political leader back in 2013, according to VOA News on February 25^th.

The charges against the eight defendants included “attempting to change the state’s nature” and “inciting armed conflict,” local media reported.

Three of the defendants received additional death penalties for “deliberate participation in premeditated murder,” whilst a ninth is on the run after being sentenced to five years in prison for failing to report “terrorist crimes to the authorities.”

Mohamed Brahmi was a left-wing, nationalist leader of the People’s Movement and a critic of the ruling Ennahdha Party at the time of his assassination which came less than six months after the fatal shooting of Chokri Belaid, another leftist figure.

Brahmi was shot 14 times by two assailants in front of his wife and children outside his home. His family have long accused Ennahdha of being behind the murder despite Jihadists affiliate with Islamic State (IS) claiming responsibilities for both Brahmi and Belaid’s assassinations, according to AL-Monitor.

The 2011 revolution in Tunisia saw the fall of dictator Ben-Ali and a hopeful population fighting for democracy. Instead, the post-revolution landscape was dominated by a surge in Islamist radicalism in the region, with many travelling to Syria, Iraq and Libya to join Islamist groups like IS.

After the killings of Brahmi and Belaid, mass protests ensued which ultimately forced Ennahdha to relinquish power to a technocratic government following the adoption of a new constitution.

Since, Brahmi’s face and distinctive thick moustache have become symbols of Tunisian protest against militant and Jihadist militant violence which has continued to plague the country.

In 2015, jihadist attacks in Sousse and the capital Tunis killed dozens of tourists and police. In recent years however, Tunisian authorities claim to have made significant progress in combating jihadist violence, but this has not affected the state of emergency President Kais Saied rules under.

VOA News, AL-Monitor