Tunisia Prison Ex-Prime Minister on charges of terrorism

A court in Tunisia sentenced former Prime Minister Ali Laaoreda to 34 years in prison.

He is the last high -profile critic of the president who goes to jail when the participants of the “terrible tests” campaign in the country.

The 69 -year -old guy is a famous opponent of President Cais Said and the leader of the popular party Ennadha, the largest in parliament – contributing to Islamist ideals.

Together with another seven other people, Laaeda was charged with creating a terrorist cell and helping young Tunis go abroad to join Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria.

“I am not a criminal … I am a victim in this case,” he wrote in a letter to the court prosecutor last month, AFP reports.

He was sentenced on Friday.

Laared consistently denied any violations and stated that the case was politically motivated.

In the last weeks, At least 40 critics of Tunisia President were sent to jail – Including diplomats, lawyers and journalists.

Human rights groups say these tests emphasized the authoritarian control of Saied over the judicial system after the parliament dissolved in 2021 and the decree.

Since the first time he was elected six years ago, a former professor of the law rewrote the Constitution to enhance his powers.

LaAire was arrested three years ago and companies called for release –including Human Rights Watchwho said the matter seemed to be another example of President Said authorities trying to silence the party leaders of Annahda and other opponents, dismantling them as terrorists. “

Enadha ruled the North African nation shortly after a popular uprising, called Arab Spring.

The protest of the protest arose in Tunisia – where the vegetable seller called Mohammed Buazizi set himself on despair from the government’s corruption – and the mass demonstrations soon spread to a wider region in 2011.

However, many Tunisians have said that democratic income has been lost since then, pointing to the authoritarian power of the current president.

However, President Said rejected criticism from the inside and outside the country, stating that he was fighting “traitors” and suffering from “brazen foreign intervention”.