Tunisian rights activist accuses authorities of committing “slow assassination” of Ghannouchi

Prominent Tunisian human rights activist Kamel Jendoubi has criticized the harsh prison sentences issued last week against opponents including leader of Tunisia’s Nahda party, Rached Ghannouchi, accusing them of committing “slow- motion assassination” against the 84-year-old man suffering from Parkinson’s disease. 

On 8 July, Tunis’s primary court issued new prison sentences in the so-called “Conspiracy Case 2”, with rulings ranging between 12 and 35 years. The harshest penalties were handed down in absentia to individuals currently outside Tunisia. The court also dismissed charges against one defendant.

The court sentenced Ghannouchi to 14 years in prison. Ghannouchi refused to attend the trial, maintaining his boycott of all court proceedings and investigations since his arrest.

In a post on his Facebook page, Jendoubi slammed the “farce” trial and described it as a political assassination “cloaked in the guise of the judiciary”.

“In a courtroom deserted by justice and where fair trial standards have vanished, the Tunisian judicial system, with a trembling and submissive hand, has signed a new chapter in its legal deviation” said Jendoubi, adding that the harsh prison sentences are “unjust” sentences issued by a “terrorism” department working in the ruling authority’s service, where political opponents are eliminated under a flimsy legal cover.

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Jendoubi believed the entire case is devoid of facts or evidence, since it is based entirely on the testimony of a “secret witness”, nicknamed “X”, who is anonymous, contradictory, and used as a flexible tool under the authorities’ control.

“Ghannouchi is not an ordinary prisoner… but rather a target of a regime that no longer governs, but rather pursues. What is happening is not detention, but systematic torture, daily humiliation, and cold-blooded revenge that has become a systematic policy” he added.

Jandoubi recalled that Ghannouchi is not just a political leader, but a pivotal figure in Tunisia’s modern history. 

“He was imprisoned under Bourguiba, exiled under Ben Ali, and was one of the most prominent symbols of the post-2011 democratic era. Today, the regime seeks to erase his voice, his image, and his very existence” he added. 

Ghannouchi has been held in prison since April 2023. Several rulings have been issued against him in cases described by international human rights organisations as “of a political nature.”     

In the same case, the court sentenced Mahrez Zouari, Abdelkarim Obeidi, Ennahda leader Habib Ellouze, and former mayor of Ezzahra, Rayan Hamzawi, to 12 years in prison each.

In absentia, the court sentenced several individuals to 35 years in prison with immediate enforcement. Those convicted include former presidential chief of staff Nadia Akacha, Ghannouchi’s son Moaaz Ghannouchi, Adel Daadaa, Rafik Abdessalam, Lotfi Zitoun, and journalist Maher Zeid.

READ: Tunisian court sentences Ghannouchi and opposition figures to 12-35 years in prison