Former Tunisian President Marzouki sentenced in absentia to 8 years in prison

Former President Moncef Marzouki was sentenced on Friday to eight years in prison in absentia on charges of attacking state security and inciting citizens against each other.

"Following statements made by the accused on social media, the Public Prosecution authorized the Court of First Instance to open an investigative case against him on charges related to planning an attack intended to change the state's structure, inciting residents to attack each other with weapons, and calling for the commission of acts of murder and robbery," Mohamed Zaitouneh, the official spokesman for the Court of First Instance, said in a statement to Radio Mosaique.

There was no comment from Marzouki regarding the ruling issued against him.

On Dec. 22, 2021, a local court issued a preliminary ruling to imprison Marzouki in absentia for four years on charges of "attacking the state security." The former president had denied the charges.

Commenting on the ruling, Marzouki said at the time, on his Facebook page, that it was "issued by a miserable judge, on the orders of an illegitimate president," referring to President Kais Saied.

In early Nov. 2021, the judiciary issued an international arrest warrant for Marzouki, following a statement in which he said that he sought to thwart the holding of the Francophone summit in his country, which was scheduled for the end of the same year.

In 2023, numerous political actors were arrested and accused of "plotting against state security," with the opposition calling them "groundless arrests."

Saied has repeatedly stressed the independence of the judiciary, while the opposition accuses him of using the judiciary to prosecute those who reject exceptional measures he began in 2021, and causing a severe political crisis in the country.

Marzouki, 78, served as Tunisia's president from 2011 to 2014.