A Tunisian appeals court on Friday issued sweeping prison sentences for 40 opposition leaders, business executives, and media figures, marking one of the country’s most consequential security prosecutions in years. According to the state news agency TAP, the defendants received jail terms ranging from five to 45 years after being convicted of conspiring against state security, according to Arab News.
The high-profile case has gripped Tunisia since March, when the trials began. Authorities said more than 20 additional suspects had already fled abroad, heightening the political stakes surrounding the proceedings. Local radio station Mosaique FM, citing an official source, reported that the Court of Appeal in Tunis delivered its “final ruling” in what has become widely known as the “conspiracy against the state” case.
Friday’s verdict follows an earlier ruling in April, when nearly 40 defendants, many of them outspoken critics of President Kais Saied, were sentenced to up to 66 years for alleged involvement in a terrorist organization and for plotting against state security. The appeals court’s decision largely upheld the earlier convictions while adjusting the sentencing ranges.
Human rights organizations have condemned the verdict, arguing that the prosecutions are politically motivated and part of a broader campaign to silence dissent. Since President Saied’s 2021 consolidation of power, when he dissolved parliament, dismissed the government, and began ruling by decree, rights groups and Western governments have repeatedly expressed concern about democratic backsliding and shrinking political freedoms.
Opposition parties and independent observers say the scale of the case reflects an increasingly coercive political climate, as several of the convicted individuals had been prominent critics of Saied’s policies or associated with opposition movements.
