A court in Tunisia has sentenced former Prime Minister Ali Laraid to 34 years in prison. The verdict was announced on Friday on terrorism charges in sending jihadist fighters to Iraq and Syria.
Ali Laraid was the leader of the Islamist party Ennahda. He briefly came to power in Tunisia after the 2011 Arab Spring and is known as a strong critic of current President Kais Saied.
His lawyer, Osama Boutelja, said Laraid was arrested in December 2022 on charges of forming a terrorist group and sending Tunisian citizens to jihadist groups.
However, Laraid has denied the charges and called the case politically motivated.
In a letter to the Tunisian prosecutor’s office on April 18, he said, “I am not a criminal, but a victim of a false case.”
Friday’s verdict also sentenced two former members of the security forces, Fathi al-Baldi and Abdel Karim al-Abidi, to 26 years in prison. Radio Mosaiqi reported that a total of eight people were sentenced to between 18 and 36 years in the case.
Analysts say it is another example of the ongoing crackdown on critics of President Saied.