By Tarek Amara
TUNIS, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Tunisian police arrested distinguished opposition determine Chaima Issa at a protest within the capital Tunis on Saturday to implement a 20-year jail sentence, her attorneys stated.
An appeals court docket handed jail phrases of as much as 45 years to opposition leaders, enterprise leaders and attorneys on Friday on costs of conspiracy to overthrow President Kais Saied, in what critics stated was an indication of more and more authoritarian rule.
“They are going to arrest me shortly,” Issa instructed Reuters moments earlier than her arrest. “I say to the Tunisians, proceed to protest and reject tyranny. We’re sacrificing our freedom for you”.
She described the costs as unjust and politically motivated.
MORE ARRESTS ARE EXPECTED
Police are additionally extensively anticipated to arrest Najib Chebbi, the pinnacle of the opposition Nationwide Salvation Entrance, the primary coalition difficult Saied.
He acquired a 12-year jail sentence and opposition determine Ayachi Hammami acquired a five-year sentence.
Forty individuals had been charged within the case, one of many largest political prosecutions in Tunisia’s latest historical past. Twenty of these charged have fled overseas and had been sentenced in absentia.
The sentences ranged from 5 to 45 years, in accordance with a court docket doc seen by Reuters.
Rights teams stated the ruling was an escalation of Saied’s crackdown on dissent since he seized extraordinary powers in 2021. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Worldwide referred to as for the quick annulment of the sentences.
Critics, journalists and activists have been jailed and unbiased NGOs suspended.
(Reporting By Tarek Amara; Enhancing by Toby Chopra and Timothy Heritage)