Tunisian opposition leader Chebbi arrested as crackdown escalates

Chebbi, 82, has been a prominent opposition figure since the 1970s, throughout the autocratic presidencies of Habib Bourguiba, the country's first leader, and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled in the 2011 pro-democracy uprising.

Last week an appeals court handed jail terms of up to 45 years to dozens of opposition leaders including Chebbi, business figures and lawyers on charges of conspiracy to overthrow Saied, underlining his increasingly authoritarian rule, critics said.

Police have also arrested Chaima Issa, opens new tab to enforce a 20-year prison sentence as well as opposition lawyer Ayachi Hammami, who received a five-year term in the same case. Both have announced an open-ended hunger strike demanding their release.

Forty people were charged in the conspiracy case, one of the largest political prosecutions in Tunisia's recent history.

Last week an appeals court handed jail terms of up to 45 years to dozens of opposition leaders including Chebbi, business figures and lawyers on charges of conspiracy to overthrow Saied, underlining his increasingly authoritarian rule, critics said.

Police have also arrested Chaima Issa, opens new tab to enforce a 20-year prison sentence as well as opposition lawyer Ayachi Hammami, who received a five-year term in the same case. Both have announced an open-ended hunger strike demanding their release.

Forty people were charged in the conspiracy case, one of the largest political prosecutions in Tunisia's recent history.

Saied has said he is fighting years of rampant corruption within the political elite, and that anyone implicated will be held accountable regardless of their name or position. He has denied interfering in the work of the judiciary.

When the conspiracy case was launched in 2023, Saied said the politicians involved were "traitors and terrorists" and that judges who would acquit them were their accomplices.