TUNISIA’S FORMER PRESIDENT MARZOUKI SENTENCED TO 4 YEARS IN ABSENTIA

Thu 23 December 2021:

According to state media, a Tunisian court has sentenced former President Moncef Marzouki to four years in prison in his absence for “assaulting” the state’s security.

The 76-year-old, who now lives in France, had previously criticized President Kais Saied and called for demonstrations.

On Wednesday, local media reported that he was found guilty of “undermining the security of the state from abroad” and of having caused “diplomatic harm”.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Marzouki rejected the ruling as illegal, saying it was “issued by an illegitimate president who overturned the constitution”.

He claimed that the allegations against him are a “reversal of the facts” and that they instead apply to Saied, who seized broad executive powers in July.

Marzouki also stated that it was his “destiny” to fight a dictatorship in his country until the end of his life, but that he would not seek legal counsel to appeal the ruling.

Saied, a former constitutional law professor, was elected president in 2019. On July 25, after months of political and economic crisis, he sacked the government, suspended parliament and launched a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption.

In September, he further tightened his grip on power by brushing aside most of the 2014 democratic constitution to say he could rule by decree during a period of exceptional measures, and promised a dialogue on further changes. Earlier this month, he declared parliament would remain frozen until new elections on December 17 next year. He has also announced an 11-week “popular consultation” to produce “draft constitutional and other reforms” before a referendum is held on July 25, 2022, on a new constitution.

Marzouki has described Saied’s move as a coup, called for protests against him and urged that a major international meeting of French-speaking countries be moved from Tunisia.

He has also used regular television appearances and social media to launch withering broadsides against Saied, whom he has called a “dictator”.

During an early October demonstration in Paris, Marzouki, in a reference to Saied, called on the French government to “reject all support for this regime and this man who plotted against the revolution and abolished the constitution”.

Saied has rejected accusations of a coup. He has said Marzouki is among the “enemies of Tunisia”, and asked the courts to investigate statements he had made, as well as to withdraw his diplomatic passport.

Foreign donors, who are needed to help Tunisia deal with a looming fiscal crisis, have urged Saied to restore normal constitutional order, saying that democracy and freedom of speech are critical to their relationship with the North African country.

Following Tunisia’s democratic revolution in 2011, an elected assembly appointed Marzouki as interim president, overseeing the country’s transition to a new constitution in 2014.

Marzouki has been taken to court several times under various presidents. He was tried at least seven times during the presidency of Habib Bourguiba, and was sentenced to 11 months in prison in absentia during the presidency of Zine EL Abidine Ben Ali.

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