#tunisia

#tunisia

A Tunisian court has sentenced Ahmed Souab, a lawyer and fierce critic of President Kais Saied, to five years in prison, his lawyer said, in a case that rights groups say marks a deepening crackdown on dissent in the North African country. Defence lawyer Yosr Hamid said on Friday that her client had received an additional three-year sentence of administrative supervision after he was arrested in April following criticism of the legal process in a trial of prominent figures, including opposition leaders.

Ben Chouchane, who was arrested in January 2024, had been sentenced to death by a court in Nabeul, east of Tunis, on Wednesday, Bouthelja told the AFP news agency. His client had been found guilty of insulting the president, the minister of justice and the judiciary, spreading false news and some of his social media posts were also deemed to be incitement, Bouthelja added.

Caught between two worlds, migrants in Tunisia fight the elements and the authorities as they strive to reach Europe. Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa wait near the coast in Tunisia for an opportunity to make the treacherous voyage across the Mediterranean. Under an agreement signed with the European Union, the Tunisian government does what it can to stop them.

Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane has scored in added time to give Tunisia a 1-0 win in Equatorial Guinea and qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America. The away victory on Monday night gave Tunisia an unassailable lead in Group H, and they became the second African nation to secure a place at the tournament after 2022 semifinalists Morocco.

"I was neither sympathetic, nor complicit, nor neutral, nor lenient towards violence, terrorism," Larayedh told the judge on Friday, rejecting what he and his Ennahdha party have called a politically motivated prosecution.

The Tunisian government has been using arbitrary detention and politically motivated prosecutions to intimidate, punish, and silence critics.

Patricia, a nurse, expressed her desperation over the threat of eviction from the olive fields outside Sfax, saying she doesn't know where she and others will go.

Critics insist the charges are trumped up and say they are symbolic of President Kais Saied's authoritarian rule.