The mass trial of around 40 opposition figures has begun in Tunis, with rights groups claiming the crackdown on voices critical of Tunisian President Kais Saied to be politically motivated, reports Al Jazeera.
Many of the defendants, who stand charged with offences ranging from “plotting against the state security” to “belonging to a terrorist group” are notable critics of the president, including politicians, former diplomats, lawyers and high-profile media figures.
The families of the accused were reported to have crowded the trial chamber of the Court of First Instance in the Tunisian capital on March 4, chanting “freedom”, and accusing the judiciary of acting upon government orders.
“We are facing the biggest judicial scandals,” said Bassam Trifi, head of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights. “It is one of the darkest injustices in Tunisia’s history.”
Charges of rolling back the democratic gains of the country’s revolution of 2011 have dogged Saied since his dramatic power grab of July 2021, when he shuttered Parliament and dismissed its speaker and prime minister, introducing a period of presidential rule by decree.
Many of those on trial were critics of that process, such as Rached Ghannouchi, the 83-year-old leader of the Ennahda Party and former speaker of Parliament, who has been sentenced to a total of more than 26 years in prison following separate trials, after having first been arrested in April 2023.