Elham Asaad Buaras
A mass trial involving around 40 prominent opposition figures began in Tunisia on March 4. Lawyers, relatives, and rights groups have condemned the trial as politically motivated.
The defendants include diplomats, politicians, lawyers, and journalists who have been critical of President Kaïs Saïed. They face charges such as “plotting against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group.” If convicted, they could be sentenced to death.
Human Rights Watch has slammed the trial as a “mockery,” describing the charges as “abusive.” The United Nations also expressed concern, urging Tunisian authorities to halt “all forms of persecution of political opponents.”
In response, Tunisia’s foreign ministry criticized the UN’s statement, calling it “astonishing” and disputing what it described as “inaccuracies.” The ministry added, “Tunisia can give lessons to those who think they are in a position to make statements.”
The trial underscores growing concerns about Saïed’s authoritarian grip on power. Since dissolving parliament in 2021, Saïed has ruled by decree and rewritten the constitution to strengthen his authority. Rights groups argue that his control over the judiciary further consolidates his power and stifles opposition.
At the trial’s opening, defence lawyers voiced frustration, saying they had not been granted access to the full case files. “You can end this madness and absurdity,” lawyer Abdelaziz Essid told the judges in court.
Among the high-profile defendants are former presidential chief of staff Nadia Akacha, ex-leader of the Ennahda opposition party Abdelhamid Jelassi, and Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, a vocal critic of Saïed’s power grab in 2021. Some defendants, including Akacha, are being tried in absentia after fleeing the country. Others have been detained since their arrests two years ago, with Saïed branding them as “terrorists.”
Bassam Trifi, head of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, called the trial “one of the darkest injustices in Tunisia’s history.”
Tunisian activists have protested outside the courthouse in the capital, Tunis, carrying banners that read, “No to remote trials, No to a judiciary that does not guarantee rights, freedom for political detainees.”
