A Tunisian court sentenced prominent opposition figure Abir Moussi to 12 years in prison, her lawyer said on Friday, in what rights groups say is another step towards entrenching President Kais Saied’s one-man rule.

“The ruling is unjust and is not a judicial decision but a politically motivated order,” Ms Moussi’s lawyer, Nafaa Laribi, told Reuters.

Ms Moussi, leader of the Free Constitutional Party, has been in prison since 2023 after police arrested her at the presidential palace entrance on suspicion of assault intended to cause chaos, in what critics said was part of a crackdown on opposition politicians.

She rejected the charges, saying she was simply exercising her right to criticise and legal opposition, vowing to continue resisting what she called “abuse, torture, and political and moral violence”.

Ms Moussi is one of dozens of prominent politicians currently behind bars amid growing criticism that Mr Saied is escalating a crackdown on his critics, including journalists, activists, civil society groups, and opposition leaders.

Last month, an appeals court handed jail terms of up to 45 years to dozens of opposition leaders, business figures, and lawyers on charges of conspiracy to overthrow Mr Saied.

Rights groups and opponents accused Mr Saied of undermining the judiciary’s independence since he dissolved the elected parliament in 2021.

In 2022, he dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, moves that opposition groups and rights advocates condemned as a coup.

Mr Saied denied having become a dictator or using the judiciary against opponents, saying he is cleansing Tunisia of “traitors”.

(Reuters/NAN)