A Tunisian court has sentenced former President Moncef Marzouki, former presidential chief of staff Imed Daïmi, and former head of the Bar Association Abderrazak Kilani to 22 years in prison in absentia, according to a ruling issued by the Tunis First Instance Court.
اضافة اعلان
Tunisian radio Mosaique FM reported on Friday evening that the Criminal Chamber for Terrorism Cases at the court handed down the sentence with immediate enforcement, also applying the same sentence to two unnamed additional defendants.
The Court of Appeals’ specialized terrorism division reportedly classified all the accused as fugitives.
In response to the ruling, Marzouki issued a statement Friday evening saying, “Judges have today sentenced me to 22 years in prison, adding to a previous 8-year sentence and another of 4 years.”
He added, “These rulings have targeted some of Tunisia’s most honorable figures and continue to provoke international ridicule.”
Marzouki affirmed, “Rest assured, democracy will return, and Tunisia will resume building a state based on law and institutions. The people will rise to free themselves from fear, humiliation, and further descent into poverty.”
As of 8:30 GMT, there had been no official response from the Tunisian government regarding the sentence.
Back in May 2024, Hanène Kaddas, spokesperson for the Judicial Counter-Terrorism Division, told the official Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) agency that a judicial inquiry had been launched against Marzouki and others involved in a press conference held abroad (reportedly in France, though the date was not specified).
Kaddas accused Marzouki of “attacking state institutions, defaming several judges, and attributing false statements that damage their reputations.”
Tunisian President Kais Saied has maintained that the judiciary operates independently and that he does not interfere in its affairs. However, the opposition accuses him of weaponizing the judiciary to prosecute critics of the exceptional measures he began implementing on July 25, 2021, which included freezing parliament, lifting immunity from MPs, abolishing the Constitutional Oversight Body, and issuing laws via presidential decrees.
Major political and civil groups in Tunisia have rejected these exceptional measures, calling them “authoritarian and a consolidation of one-man rule.” Meanwhile, other factions support them, viewing them as reflecting the will of the Tunisian people.
— (Anadolu Agency)
