Prison sentences for nine leaders of Tunisia’s Islamist opposition party for “plotting”

The opposition Islamist movement Ennahda of Tunisia reported this Monday that the Justice condemned nine of its leaders to sentences of up to 12 years in prison, in the case known as “Beja (Tunisian locality) file” for “conspiracy against the State”, the political party reported in a statement. The “Beja” case, named after the northern Tunisian city, involves regional leaders accused of “conspiracy against state security,” “contact with a foreign power,” “insulting the president,” and other charges related to “terrorism,” as reported in 2023 by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) at the beginning of the process. Ennahda assured that those convicted in the current trial “did not have a fair trial” and detailed that the sentence ranges from “two to twelve” years in prison against nine of its militants.

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He also expressed his solidarity with the condemned and their families, pointing to the authorities of the Maghreb country for their “direct responsibility” in what he considered a “violation of Justice” and affirmed that the rule of law is not established with “revenge trials” or “fabricating charges”. The Islamist party said in its note that this case began after “a false accusation by an unidentified person” and assured that its convicted militants “were threatened” during their detention by security members, who, according to Ennahda, “were not specialized” in the fight against terrorism. “Tunisian authorities have intensified their attacks against opponents,” HRW noted in 2023 regarding the legal cases opened after the 2021 power grab by the head of the Tunisian state, Kais Said, in which the former Parliament Speaker and leader of the most voted party, Rached Gannouchi, has been sentenced to prison in several rulings. On November 14, the Tunisian Justice sentenced Ghannouchi, 84, currently convicted in several cases, including for “terrorism” offenses, to two years in prison, according to lawyer Mujtar al Jamai to EFE, defense attorney in several of his cases.