Jailed Tunisian opposition leader, Rached Ghannouchi, was handed another lengthy prison term on February 5 as part of a series of sentences given to several prominent political figures and journalists.
Ghannounchi, the 83-year-old head of the Ennahda party who has been behind bars since 2023, was sentenced to another 22 years in prison, said an AFP report.
Deposed prime minister HichemMechichi was sentenced to 35 years and journalist ChahrazedAkacha to 27, both in absentia.
Mohamed Ali Aroui, former interior ministry spokesperson, was sentenced to 16 years while Ennahda official Said Ferjani was handed 13.
The case against these and dozens of others is related to Instalingo, a digital content production firm that has been under heavy scrutiny since Tunisian President Kais Saied’s power grab in 2021.
As per the MEE, lawyers say that 17 of those charged were already detained, with sentences varying between five and 37 years in prison.
The charges include “undermining the integrity of Tunisian territory” and “joining a gang that works to change the form of the state and commit hostilities against the president”, according to one of the lawyers on the defence team.
When the trial began, Ghannouchi refused to appear before a judge, in protest over “the absence of an independent judiciary”, said Zeineb Brahmi, one of the defendants’ lawyers.
KaoutherFerjani, Said Ferjani’s daughter, expressed support for her father and said on X, that she and her family “reject this farcical sentence….”
[Read more on Radiancenews.com]