A Tunisian court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Ali Larayedh to 34 years in prison over accusations of enabling the departure of jihadists to Syria over the past decade, according to his lawyer.
Larayedh, who served as prime minister between 2013 and 2014 and is a senior member of the opposition Ennahda party, was found guilty in a case tied to terrorism-related activities. Ennahda, an Islamist political movement, has been one of the main opponents of President Kais Saied.
The court ruling comes just a week after the arrest of outspoken lawyer Ahmed Souab and the sentencing of several opposition figures, business leaders, and journalists on conspiracy charges — moves that have drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups. Activists have labelled these actions a major escalation in the ongoing crackdown on dissent.
Tunisian state news agency TAP reported that the court handed prison terms ranging from 18 to 36 years to eight individuals, though it did not name them all. Authorities insist the judiciary is acting independently and deny that the charges are politically motivated.
Ennahda has repeatedly denied any involvement in terrorism, claiming that the case against Larayedh is part of a wider effort to silence opposition voices. The former prime minister, who has been in detention since 2022, defended himself in court, stating:
“I was neither sympathetic, nor complicit, nor neutral, nor lenient toward violence or terrorism.”
After Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, thousands of Tunisians reportedly left the country to join extremist groups in conflict zones such as Syria, Iraq, and Libya. The Ennahda-led government at the time was heavily criticized for allegedly enabling the departures, accusations the party strongly rejects.
