A Tunisian appeals court has handed jail terms of up to 45 years to opposition leaders, businessmen, and lawyers, including prominent figures such as Ghazi Chaouachi, Issam Chebbi, and Ridha Belhaj, in a case widely seen as a sign of President Kais Saied’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
The sentences have been condemned by rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as an escalation of Saied’s crackdown on dissent since he seized extraordinary powers in 2021.
The defendants, who include former officials and the former head of intelligence, Kamel Guizani, were charged with conspiracy to overthrow the president, with authorities saying they tried to destabilize the country.
Opposition leaders have denounced the prosecution as fabricated and accused Saied of carrying out a political purge, vowing to unite the fragmented opposition against the democratic setback.
