An appeals court on Friday issued prison terms ranging from five to 45 years against opposition politicians, business leaders, and lawyers on charges of conspiring to overthrow President Kais Saied — a move critics described as the latest escalation in Tunisia’s slide toward authoritarian rule.
Ahead of her arrest, Issa addressed demonstrators, urging the divided opposition to unite and intensify protests.
“They will arrest me shortly,” she told Reuters. “I say to Tunisians: continue to protest and reject tyranny. We are sacrificing our freedom for you.” She denounced the charges as politically motivated and unjust.
More arrests expected
The police are also widely expected to detain Najib Chebbi, head of the National Salvation Front and one of Saied’s most vocal opponents. Chebbi received a 12-year sentence in the same case.
“We will not gain freedom except by unity,” Chebbi said at the rally.
“We are ready for prison. We are not afraid,” added opposition figure Ayachi Hammami, who was sentenced to five years. “I hope the youth will expand protests until the authorities reconsider — or be swept away by the will of the people.”
President Saied has accused his opponents of treason, corruption, and acting as foreign agents. He claims civil society groups receive external funding aimed at influencing Tunisian politics.
Forty people were charged in the case — one of the largest political prosecutions in Tunisia in recent years. Twenty of them are abroad and were sentenced in absentia, according to a court document seen by Reuters.
Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, condemned the verdicts and called for the sentences to be annulled, saying Saied’s government has intensified its crackdown on dissent since he assumed extraordinary powers in 2021. Critics, journalists, and activists have been jailed, and independent NGOs suspended.