More than 40 people are set to face charges of conspiracies against the Tunisian state and its president, Kais Saied, in a large-scale trial in Tunisia.
The trial was originally scheduled to begin on March 4, but was moved to April 11 and then resumed for a week.
Some of Tunisia’s most senior opposition politicians, diplomats, and media figures claim the charges, including collaborating with “foreign powers” to undermine Saied’s rule, are trumped up and a sign of Tunisia’s democratic backsliding.
Nearly all of the defendants are facing death row or lengthy jail sentences.
Since 1991, Tunisian courts have effectively suspended executions.
In this case, would some of the defendants receive a death sentence? Would it be put into practice, then?
Let’s examine this more closely.
Does Tunisia still have a death penalty?
Judges are still able to decide whether to carry out the death penalty, but it hasn’t since 1991, putting a de facto moratorium on it.
Tunisia has consistently supported UN efforts to put a global moratorium on the use of the death penalty since 2012, despite the 2014 constitution’s specific provisional provisions for legal executions.
The death penalty has not been eliminated, though.
In Tunisia, have people been given the death penalty?
The penalty is still a topic of law and sentences, despite the “Butcher of Nabeul” serial killer Naceur Damergi, who was hanged in 1991, being the last to be executed in Tunisia.
Eight people were given death sentences for the 2013 murder of opposition politician Mohammed Brahmi, and four were given death sentences for the killing of Chokri Belaid, who was also convicted of the murder of another politician, Chokri Belaid, in February of this year.
In 2022, 16 people who had been accused of being ISIL (ISIS) members were given death sentences for their involvement in the 2016 attack on Ben Guerdane, which resulted in the deaths of 13 security forces members and seven civilians.
In addition, a Tunisian court sentenced eight people to death in January 2020 for their involvement in the 2015 suicide bombing of a Tunisian presidential guard bus, which left 20 people dead and 20 injured.
Do some defendants in “constitutional cases” face the death penalty?
According to Article 72 of the Penal Code, Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, Khayam Turki, Issam Chebi, Ghazi Chaouachi, Ridha Belhaj, and Abdelhamid Jelassi are accused, among other crimes, of attempting to “change the nature of the state.”
They would likely receive the death penalty if found guilty.
Former Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri, who is alleged to have authored a number of social media posts, is one of the other defendants accused of trying to alter the nature of the state.
Other crimes against defendants include having a “terrorist” group and plotting against state security, both of which are capital crimes.
What is President Saied’s opinion of the death penalty?
He backs it.
Kais Saied readily admitted his support for the death penalty during the first presidential debates in 2019 as long as it was carried out in accordance with the law.
In response to the brutal murder of 29-year-old Rahma Lahmar in 2020, Saii once more addressed the issue, telling his security council that murder deserves the death penalty.
