A Tunisian court has handed down significant jail terms to dozens of opposition leaders, lawyers, and businessmen accused of plotting to overthrow President Kais Saied. Forty individuals received sentences ranging from four to 45 years, including prominent opposition leader Jawahar Ben Mbarek, in connection with the alleged conspiracy. Twenty of the accused have reportedly fled abroad and were sentenced in absentia, while others have been held in detention since 2023.

The charges stem from accusations by Tunisian authorities that the defendants, including former head of intelligence Kamel Guizani, attempted to destabilize the country and topple President Saied. Among the most notable figures, Jawahar Ben Mbarek, Issam Chebbi, and Ghazi Chaouachi were each handed 20-year jail terms. All three have been detained since a widespread political crackdown in 2023. Businessman Kamel Ltaif received the maximum sentence of 45 years, while opposition politician Khyam Turki was sentenced to 35 years. According to AFP, Ben Mbarek has been on hunger strike for more than a month, as confirmed by his sister and lawyer, Dalila Ben Mbarek.

Human rights groups have strongly condemned the trials, describing them as politically motivated and part of a broader clampdown on dissent under President Saied. Since suspending Tunisia’s parliament in 2021 and ruling by decree, Saied's actions have triggered widespread criticism both domestically and internationally. Those sentenced in absentia include politician and feminist Bochra Belhaj Hmida and French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, according to human rights organizations. The final sentences were issued by an appeals court, which increased several sentences from the initial April rulings, during which Saied labeled the defendants “terrorists.”

A lawyer representing the defendants described the trial as a “farce” with a “clear intent to eliminate political opponents,” according to Reuters. Sara Hashash, deputy regional director at Amnesty International, denounced the sentences as “unjust” and “an appalling indictment of the Tunisian justice system,” adding that the appeals court had “rubber-stamped the government’s use of the justice system to eliminate political dissent.” Following the earlier ruling, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk voiced “serious concerns about political motivations” and urged the Tunisian government to stop using broad national security and counterterrorism laws to silence critics.

The judicial actions have also sparked public outrage. Thousands of Tunisians marched in the capital, Tunis, protesting against the government and accusing President Saied of consolidating a one-man rule through coercive control of the judiciary and security forces. Saied was elected in 2019, after Tunisia emerged from the Arab Spring with hopes of sustained democratic governance. However, the country has since undergone significant democratic backsliding, with growing signs of authoritarianism—demonstrated most clearly by these mass prosecutions and the ongoing repression of political opposition.