Tunisian Court Jails Prominent Critic of President Saied for Five Years
Conviction of former judge Ahmed Souab deepens concerns over Tunisia’s shrinking judicial independence under President Saied.
- Former judge and government critic Ahmed Souab sentenced to five years in prison by Tunisia’s anti-terrorism court.
- Rights groups warn the case reflects growing political pressure on the judiciary and civil society.
- President Kais Saied denies authoritarianism, saying his actions target corruption and protect national integrity.
A Tunisian court has sentenced Ahmed Souab, a well-known critic of President Kais Saied, to five years in prison, marking the latest move against opposition figures who accuse Saied of tightening his grip on power through the judiciary.
Souab, a former administrative judge, was convicted by an anti-terrorism court in Tunis. He was arrested in April after comments criticizing the judiciary and saying that judges were working “with a knife to their heads.” Authorities claimed the remark was threatening, while Souab’s defence argued it described the political pressure facing judges.
“Five years in prison — for what? For a metaphor, a spontaneous expression that everyone understood as symbolic except the authorities,” said his lawyer, Sami Ben Ghazi. “Ahmed Souab is imprisoned in our place.”
Earlier this week, three major NGOs said their activities had been suspended by the authorities over alleged foreign funding, calling it an effort to stifle Tunisia’s civil society.
Since Saied seized sweeping powers in 2021, dissolving parliament and ruling by decree, his opponents have accused him of eroding judicial independence. In 2022, he dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and dismissed dozens of judges — actions that rights groups denounced as part of an authoritarian power grab.
Many opposition leaders are currently in prison, including Rached Ghannouchi, head of the Ennahda party, and Abir Moussi, leader of the Free Constitutional Party.
President Saied rejects accusations of authoritarianism, saying his actions aim to purge the country of “traitors” and corruption, and insists he is not a dictator.
