The Court of First Instance of Tunis sentenced prominent opposition figure Jawher Ben Mbarek to six months in prison, his sister and lawyer Dalila Ben Mbarek Masddek announced in a live video on Facebook on Saturday. The case was brought by the Independent Higher Authority for Elections (ISIE) against Ben Mbarek regarding his criticism of the 2022 elections, where he declared that they amounted to a “farce.” Ben Mbarek was previously detained last year on charges of conspiracy against state security charges
The Tunisian lawyer stated that Ben Mbarek did not criticize the work of the ISIE, nor did he speak about election fraud, but only criticized the elections in a general manner. She further said that, following investigations, a court hearing was designated without a prior invitation and that her brother refused to leave the prison and be present at the hearing. Ben Mbarkek’s defense team advised him not to attend the hearing due to health issues as a result of his hunger strike. The hearing took place without his presence.
Ben Mbarek’s sister stressed that they requested for the hearing to be delayed, only to be rejected by the public ministry, which ordered for his sentencing. She also criticized the decision of the magistrates and claimed that her brother was denied the right of defense, announcing that she will be begin a hunger strike in protest of her brother’s sentence.
Many leaders of the opposition National Salvation Front (NSFT) were also detained alongside Ben Mbarket, including Khayam Turki, Ridha Belhaj, Ghazi Chaouachi, and Issam Chebbi, with a number of those still detained taking part in a hunger strike in protest of their detention. Amnesty International condemned the arrests as “unfounded accusations of conspiracy” and urged authorities to “drop the charges” and “immediately release them as they are detained for exercising their human rights through activism.”
The number of political detainees in Tunisia has alarmingly increased in the past year, with international institutions such as the International Commission of Jurists calling for the end of “abusive, politicized and judicial proceedings aimed at cracking down on government critics.” Furthermore, Human Rights Watch’s 2024 report highlighted the decline in Tunisia’s freedom of expression and press and the political crackdown.
