Ex-Tunisian PM sentenced in controversial terrorism trial

A Tunisian court sentenced former Prime Minister Ali Larayedh to 34 years in prison on Friday, accusing him of facilitating the departure of jihadists to Syria over the past decade. 

The verdict, confirmed by his lawyer to Reuters, marks a significant escalation in Tunisia’s ongoing political crackdown.

Larayedh, who led the government from 2013 to 2014, is a senior member of the opposition Ennahda party—an Islamist political force that has long stood in opposition to President Kais Saied. The party strongly denies the terrorism-related charges, calling the trial politically motivated.

“I was neither sympathetic, nor complicit, nor neutral, nor lenient toward violence, terrorism,” Larayedh reportedly told the court during the hearing. He has been held in pretrial detention since 2022.

The court ruling follows a wave of prosecutions targeting opposition figures, including the recent detention of lawyer Ahmed Souab and other notable political, media, and business figures. Tunisia’s state news agency TAP reported that sentences were issued for eight individuals, ranging from 18 to 36 years.

Human rights groups have condemned these developments as part of a dangerous clampdown on dissent, accusing President Saied’s government of weaponizing the judiciary. The administration has denied these accusations, asserting that the judiciary remains independent.

Since the 2011 revolution, thousands of Tunisians are believed to have joined jihadist groups in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. Critics have long accused Ennahda, which held power during much of that period, of turning a blind eye to these departures—an allegation the party continues to refute.

The verdict against Larayedh comes amid a broader erosion of democratic norms in Tunisia, where President Saied dissolved parliament and began ruling by decree in 2021.