The trial of several prominent Tunisian opposition figures accused of national security offenses is set to begin on Tuesday, a case that rights groups have condemned as politically driven.
Approximately 40 high-profile defendants—including former diplomats, politicians, lawyers, and media figures—are facing charges of “plotting against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group.” These charges carry severe penalties, including potential capital punishment, according to their legal representatives.
Among the accused are outspoken critics of President Kais Saied, such as politicians Jawhar Ben Mbarek, Abdelhamid Jelassi, and Issam Chebbi, a founding member of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition. Ben Mbarek, in a letter from prison, described the trial as “judicial harassment” aimed at silencing dissent and dismissed the allegations as unfounded.
Also charged in the case are activist Khayam Turki, businessman Kamel Eltaief, and human rights advocate Bochra Belhaj Hmida, a former lawmaker now residing in France. Some defendants have been held in detention since a wave of arrests in February 2023, following Saied’s characterization of them as “terrorists.” Others remain free while awaiting trial, while some have fled abroad, according to their defense team.
President Saied, who came to power in 2019 after Tunisia’s transition to democracy following the Arab Spring, has faced growing criticism for consolidating authority. His 2021 power grab led to concerns over democratic backsliding, with rights groups warning of increasing restrictions on freedoms.
During a recent public visit in the capital, Tunis, Saied was approached by a woman pleading for his intervention in her sons’ imprisonment—unrelated to this case. He responded, “I never intervene in judicial matters,” a statement captured in a video posted on the presidency’s official Facebook page.
Beyond this trial, several other Saied critics have been arrested under various charges, including violations of a law against “false news.” In February, Rached Ghannouchi, the 83-year-old leader of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for plotting against state security in a separate case.
Last month, the United Nations urged Tunisia to halt what it called a pattern of arrests, arbitrary detentions, and imprisonment of human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, activists, and politicians. Tunisia’s foreign ministry dismissed the UN’s concerns as inaccurate, asserting that the country is in no position to be lectured on human rights.
