Former Prime Minister Ali Laredo and the opposition Ennada Party have denounced the trial as political motive.
A Tunisian court sentenced former Prime Minister Ali Laredo to 34 years in prison for accusations that encouraged the departure of fighters to Syria.
“I was neither sympathetic, nor was I conspiracy or neutral, nor was I tolerant of violence or terrorism,” Laredo told a judge on Friday, rejecting what he and his Ennada party were called politically motivated prosecutors.
The ruling is the latest blow to the Ennada Party, the main opposition force for President Kais to Said.
Larayedh, who served as prime minister from 2013 to 2014, has been in custody since 2022.
His sentence comes just a week after vocal Said critic Ahmed Souabu and new prison conditions, reported on various conspiracy charges by political enemies, media figures and businessmen, were arrested.
According to state news agency TAP, the sentence applies to eight individuals, with prison conditions ranging from 18 to 36 years. The court did not name those convicted along with Larayedh.
Ennahdha has denied all terrorist allegations and claims the case is part of a broader campaign against dissent that has intensified as it had taken on a sweeping in 2021 since SAIED stopped. The government argues that Tunisian judiciary is independent and rejects claims of political interference.
However, human rights groups say the crackdown on opposition voices, including Suabu’s imprisonment, is showing a dangerous escalation. Many warn that democratic interests have been steadily rewind in the birthplace of the Arab Spring in the years since the 2011 revolution.
Rising protests against the President of Tunisia
Sayed faced protests on Thursday, accusing the enemy of taking him to the streets of Tunis and using the judiciary and police to silence their dissent.
The demonstrations continue to grow amid alarm about the second demonstration of a week being seen by critics as an authoritarian drift in the country that sparked the Arab Spring.
Margining down Khabib Bourgiva Avenue, anti-navigators chanted slogans such as “Syed go away, you are a dictator” and “People want the government to fall.”
Said’s supporters embraced the opposition on the same highway, shouting, “Don’t interfere with foreign countries,” and “People want to Said again.”
Opponents have accused Said of undermining the democracy that won the 2011 revolution by seizing extra powers in 2021, when he moved to control by order before taking over power over the judiciary.
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