Political situation in Tunisia

Opposition leader arrested in Tunisia – sentenced to 12 years

Tunisian politician Ahmed Nejib Chebbi has been arrested at his home, his daughter and lawyer told AFP. The leader of the country's largest opposition coalition, the NSF, was sentenced on Friday to 12 years in prison for conspiracy against the state and membership in a terrorist group. According to human rights organizations, the trial against him and 39 others was politically motivated. Some of them have been sentenced to up to 45 years in prison, according to the Middle East Monitor.

Civil society has sharply criticized the increasingly restricted rights since President Kais Saied took power in 2021. The NSF opposition movement was formed after he dissolved parliament the same year.

The European Parliament last week urged Tunisia to release "all those imprisoned for exercising their freedom of expression".

“I will make my cell the base of my resistance”

After 40 opposition Tunisians were imprisoned to serve long sentences, a pre-recorded video has been posted on the Facebook page of human rights lawyer Ayachi Hammami. In the video, he calls the judges political decisions on the orders of President Kais Saied.

“I will make the cell in which Kais Saied imprisons me the base of my resistance,” he says in the video according to the New York Times, and announces a hunger strike.

Civil society is sharply criticizing the increasingly restricted rights and persecution of opposition figures since President Kais Saied took power in 2021.

Last week, the European Parliament urged Tunisia to release “all those imprisoned for exercising their freedom of expression.”