A Tunisian court has handed jail terms to dozens of opposition leaders, lawyers, and businessmen accused of attempting to overthrow the nation's president.
Forty people, including opposition leader Jawahar Ben Mbarek, received sentences ranging from four to 45 years over the alleged conspiracy to oust President Kais Saied.
Twenty of those charged have fled abroad and were sentenced in absentia, while others have been held in detention since 2023.
Human rights groups have criticized the trial as politically motivated, characterizing the prosecutions as an escalation of Saied's crackdown on dissent since he suspended Tunisia's parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree.
Tunisian authorities argue the defendants, who include former head of intelligence Kamel Guizani, attempted to destabilize the country and topple Saied.
Ben Mbarek and party leaders Issam Chebbi and Ghazi Chaouachi received jail terms of 20 years. All three have been detained since the 2023 crackdown.
The maximum sentence, 45 years, was given to businessman Kamel Ltaif, while opposition politician Khyam Turki received a 35-year term.
Ben Mbarek has been on hunger strike for over a month and was at risk of dying, news agency AFP reports, citing his sister and lawyer Dalila Ben Mbarek.
Among those sentenced in absentia was politician and feminist Bochra Belhaj Hmida, as well as French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, human rights groups say.
The final sentences were issued by an appeals court after the opposition figures were initially sentenced in April. Saied had branded them 'terrorists.'
A lawyer for the defendants was quoted by Reuters as describing the trial as a 'farce' with the 'clear intent to eliminate political opponents.'
Human rights groups have also been critical of the prosecutions.
Sara Hashash, deputy regional director at Amnesty International, described the sentences as 'unjust' and 'an appalling indictment of the Tunisian justice system.'
While three defendants were acquitted, the court increased others' sentences, solidifying the government's strategy to utilize the judicial system to suppress dissent.
After the initial ruling, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk expressed serious concerns regarding political motivations and urged Tunisia's government to refrain from using National Security legislation to silence opposition.
Saturdays have recently seen thousands marching in Tunis, protesting against Saied, who they accuse of consolidating his power through a compromised judiciary and police force.
Since his election in 2019, Tunisia has faced democratic backsliding, echoing a return to authoritarian governance.
