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Tunisian authorities have arrested prominent lawyer and outspoken government critic Ahmed Souab, just two days after he publicly denounced the mass conviction of dozens of opposition figures on conspiracy and national security charges, state media reported.
Souab, who represented several defendants in the case, had called the trial a “farce” and described it as “scandalous and shameful.” His arrest was confirmed by three fellow lawyers, including colleague Samir Dilou, who said Souab was detained due to his critical remarks.
On Saturday, a Tunisian court sentenced 40 individuals to prison terms ranging from four to 66 years, according to TAP, the state-run news agency. The defendants included leaders of the main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, as well as lawyers, businessmen, and public figures. Charges included “conspiracy against state security,” incitement and “membership in a terrorist group.”Â
Of the 40 defendants, three were later removed from the case after appealing the charges. Some of the defendants had been in detention since their arrests in 2023, while 27 were tried in absentia after fleeing the country. Those convicted in absentia—among them French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy and feminist lawyer Bushra Belhaj-Hamida—were each sentenced to 33 years in prison.
Prominent National Salvation Front leaders Issam Chebbi and Jawhar Ben Mbarek, who remain in custody, were each sentenced to 18 years. Businessman Kamel Eltaief received the harshest sentence: 66 years in prison.
Journalists were barred from attending the court proceedings, which the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) condemned as a “blatant violation of press freedom, union rights, and constitutional protections.”
The specific charges against each defendant remain unclear. The case stems from a February 2023 criminal investigation initially targeting 17 individuals, with 12 arrests carried out during a broader crackdown on activists, lawyers, judges, journalists, and political figures.
Following the arrests, President Kais Saied described those detained as “criminals” leading a “paid campaign” against the state.
Amnesty International denounced the verdicts, calling the trial a “travesty of justice” and evidence of “the authorities’ complete disregard for Tunisia’s international human rights obligations and the rule of law.” A week before the ruling, the organization had called for the release of seven opposition figures held “for peacefully exercising their human rights.”
The sentencing came days after Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Tunisian authorities of using arbitrary detention to suppress dissent and of holding critics under vague legal charges, poor detention conditions, and inadequate medical care.
