Tunisia sentences opposition leader Abir Moussi to 12 years in jail

"A Tunisian court has sentenced prominent opposition leader Abir Moussi to 12 years in prison amid a sweeping crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied, who has said he is cleansing the North African country of traitors. Lawyer Nafaa Laribi, who represented Moussi, the leader of the Free Destourian Party (Free Constitutional Party), in her third trial in the space of two years, called Friday's ruling unjust, saying that it was not a judicial decision but a politically motivated order."

"Moussi has been at the helm of the Free Destourian Party since 2016 and was a supporter of the late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled by mass protests in 2011. Her party has organised protests against President Saied, who came to power in 2019, shutting down the elected parliament in 2021 and moving to rule by decree. He claimed that his measures were an attempt to save the country from anarchy."

"The opposition leader was imprisoned in 2023 after police arrested her at the presidential palace entrance on suspicion of assault intended to cause chaos, amid a broader crackdown on journalists, activists, civil society groups and opposition leaders. Moussi rejected the charges, saying she was simply exercising her right to criticise and legal opposition and promising to continue resisting what she called abuse, torture, and political and moral violence."

Tunisian opposition leader Abir Moussi received a 12-year prison sentence amid a broad crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied, who has declared an effort to cleanse the country of traitors. Lawyer Nafaa Laribi characterized the ruling as unjust and politically motivated during Moussi's third trial in two years. Moussi, detained since October 3, 2023, was arrested at the presidential palace entrance on suspicion of assault intended to cause chaos. She rejects the charges, saying she only exercised her right to criticise and legal opposition. Her party condemned her arbitrary detention and vows continued resistance amid crackdowns on journalists, activists, and civil society.

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