TUNIS: An appeal trial for nearly 40 Tunisian public and opposition figures sentenced for plotting against the state was adjourned on Monday, after a hearing without main defendants in court.
In April, a Tunisian court gave custodial sentences of up to 74 years to the defendants on charges of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group” in proceedings criticized by rights groups.
Among the defendants were Jawhar Ben Mbarek, co-founder of a leading opposition coalition, party leaders Issam Chebbi and Ghazi Chaouachi, and businessman Kamel Ltaief — all detained since February 2023.
At the opening of Monday’s hearing, defense lawyers refused to allow their clients to be heard virtually, demanding that they be brought to court instead. The hearing was later adjourned to November 27.
“The session lacked the most basic requirements of a fair trial,” said lawyer Samir Dilou. “We reject remote trial.”
Dilou described the trial as “political” and said the adjournment “perhaps reflects a haste to issue a verdict.”
Boubaker Bethabet, head of the bar association, said the defense team “requested that the defendants be brought to court to defend themselves.”
The court said Ben Mbarek — who has been on hunger strike for more than two weeks — failed to appear for the hearing, while his family said he was hospitalized for a second time since Thursday.
Last week, his relatives and his lawyer said he had been beaten by prison guards and other inmates in an attempt to force him to eat.
Prison authorities then opened an investigation into the incident, his defense team said.
Human Rights Watch last week called on authorities to “end this judicial farce, which is part of a wider crackdown on any form of criticism or dissent,” denouncing “baseless accusations” and “a judicial process devoid of fair trial guarantees.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in April said the trial was “marred by violations of fair trial and due process rights, raising serious concerns about political motivations.”
Since President Kais Saied launched a power grab in the summer of 2021 and assumed total control of the country, rights advocates and opposition figures have decried a rollback of freedoms in Tunisia where the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings began.
Some 20 NGOs in Tunisia have been temporarily suspended in recent weeks, sources familiar with the matter told AFP.
Amnesty International denounced the crackdown as a “steady erosion of Tunisia’s once-vibrant civil society.”
Dozens of opposition activists, lawyers, journalists and NGO workers have been behind bars on conspiracy charges or under a decree prohibiting “spreading false news,” which rights groups denounce as a means to stifle dissent.
