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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

Tunisia's Court of Cassation upholds opposition convictions in ‘conspiracy’ case

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Outcome reported
  • Tunisia's Court of Cassation upheld prison sentences ranging from five to 45 years for more than 40 opposition figures convicted in the state-security conspiracy case.
  • The case began after a 2023 meeting aimed, according to defense lawyers, at unifying the opposition and organizing a national dialogue.
  • Civil society groups and international organizations called the proceedings political persecution and criticized the lack of procedural safeguards.

Tunisia's Court of Cassation has upheld prison sentences of between five and 45 years for more than 40 opposition figures in the case known as the “Conspiracy against State Security.”

persecution

· Civil society organizationsThey used this term to characterize the mass trial and convictions.

The convictions stem from a mass trial held in April 2025. The investigation began in 2023 after a meal at an activist's home brought together prominent figures seeking to unite the opposition against what they saw as Tunisia's political drift after President Kais Saied accumulated power in July 2021.

Arrest warrants were issued in February 2023 for people who attended the meal. More than 40 people were eventually drawn into the investigation, and some were tried in absentia after fleeing Tunisia. Defense lawyers said the meeting produced a roadmap for a national dialogue, not a plan to overthrow the government, as prosecutors alleged.

a case fabricated

· Defense lawyersLawyers rejected the prosecution's account of the opposition meeting.

Several appeal hearings followed requests from the defendants' representatives, but the prison terms remained in place. The highest sentence fell from 66 years to 45 years.

The harsh sentences are the consequence of a serious distortion of the justice system and only seek to silence dissent.

· Human Rights WatchHRW criticized the convictions and their impact on political opposition.

Tunisian and international organizations described the proceedings as a political trial and called those imprisoned prisoners of conscience. Human Rights Watch said the harsh sentences resulted from a serious distortion of the justice system and sought to silence dissent. Amnesty International criticized what it called a lack of procedural guarantees, opaque trials and the use of the judiciary against the political opposition. Since Saied assumed broad powers in 2021 and changed the political system and constitution, rights groups have reported increased pressure on dissent and setbacks for freedoms.

prisoners of conscience

· National and international organizationsOrganizations used this term for the imprisoned opposition figures.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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