Tunisia opposition figures go on trial on state security charges

The trial of several prominent Tunisian opposition figures accused of national security offences opened on Tuesday, with rights groups denouncing the case as politically motivated.

The around 40 high-profile defendants include former diplomats, politicians, lawyers and media figures, some of whom have been vocal critics of President Kais Saied.

Those already in detention were not allowed to attend the trial in person and followed it remotely, an AFP journalist reported.

Their lawyers and rights groups argued this was unjust and demanded their right to appear before a judge.

In the courtroom, relatives of the accused chanted “Freedom” and accused the judiciary of acting on government orders.

Some defendants have been detained since February 2023, after Saied labelled them “terrorists”.

Saied, elected in 2019 after Tunisia emerged as the only democracy from the Arab Spring, staged a sweeping power grab in 2021. Rights groups have since raised concerns over a rollback on freedoms.

The charges in the case include “plotting against the state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group”, which could entail hefty sentences and even capital punishment, according to lawyers.

The case has named politician and law expert Jawhar Ben Mbarek, Ennahdha leader Abdelhamid Jelassi, and Issam Chebbi, founder of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition.

– ‘Unjust’ –
Activists Khayam Turki and Chaima Issa, businessman Kamel Eltaief, and Bochra Belhaj Hmida, a former member of parliament and human rights activist now living in France, have also been charged in the case.

While some remained free pending trial, others have fled abroad, according to the defence committee.

Several of the defendants are also suspected of getting in contact with foreign parties and diplomats amid the alleged conspiracy.

In a letter from his cell, Ben Mbarek called the trial a form of “judicial harassment” aimed at “the methodical elimination of critical voices”, claiming the accusations were baseless.

Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, head of the FSN and himself named in the case, called the trial “unjust”.

He said the defendants were “figures in Tunisia known for their pacifism and respect for the law”.

Contrary to his brother Issam, he remains free while awaiting the trial’s verdict.

Lawyer Samir Dilou said the real conspiracy in the high-profile case was that of “the government against the opposition”.

French lawyer Christian Charriere-Bournazel, who is defending some of the accused, described the case as “surprising”.

“There is no evidence that justifies a plot against state security,” he told AFP.

The defence committee had also told AFP the charges were “based on false testimony”.

– ‘Pattern of arrests’ –
On Sunday, during a visit to the streets of the capital Tunis, Saied told a woman who asked him to intervene for her imprisoned sons — unrelated to the trial — that he “never intervenes” in judicial matters.

“Let this be clear to everyone,” he was heard telling her in a video posted on the presidency’s official Facebook page.

Other critics of Saied have been detained and charged in different cases, including under a law to combat “false news”.

In early February, the leader of Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party Rached Ghannouchi, 83, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for plotting against state security, though in a separate case.

The United Nations urged Tunisian authorities last month to bring “an end to the pattern of arrests, arbitrary detentions and imprisonment of dozens of human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, activists and politicians”.

Tunisia’s foreign ministry dismissed the UN statement with “astonishment” and denounced its “inaccuracies”.

“Tunisia can give lessons to those who think they are in a position to make statements,” it said.