Tunisia puts 40 opposition figures on trial
TUNIS: A Tunisian court opened a high-profile trial Tuesday in which 40 people, including leading opposition figures, stand accused of conspiring against state security. Activists protested outside, calling it a baseless case and part of a politically driven crackdown.Nine of the defendants were not allowed to appear at the trial, deemed by the court as too dangerous to release from custody. Their lawyers demanded the right of their clients to appear before a judge, as did the protesters outside.In addition to opposition politicians, the accused include former diplomats, business leaders, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders, and some have spent more than two years in pre-trial detention. Others have fled abroad.According to lawyers, some defendants risk capital punishment if convicted. The charges include plotting against state security and belonging to a terrorist group for some, while others are suspected of illegal connections with foreign parties and diplomats.Critics of Tunisian President Kais Saied say the charges are fabricated and the trial is politically motivated. The North African country's president, who was re-elected for a second term last year, says the defendants are 'traitors and terrorists,' as they accuse him of staging a coup in 2021.The birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings, Tunisia has seen a significant rollback of freedoms under Saied. Critics, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, have accused Saied's government of using the judiciary to stifle dissent since his 2021 power grab, which dissolved parliament and expanded executive authority.Saied's supporters argue his crackdowns are necessary to stabilize a nation grappling with inflation, unemployment, and corruption. Many Tunisians blame political elites for economic mismanagement.Global rights groups condemned the court case, including treatment of the defendants.'The documented systematic violations of their rights during the pre-trial phase of the criminal proceedings significantly undermine the whole prosecution and the legitimacy, independence and impartiality″ of the trial, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said in a statement.
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