Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, a virulent critic of current head of state Kaïs Saïed, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for attempting to
“provoke disorder”
in the country, local media reported on Friday evening. .
This verdict was pronounced by the criminal chamber of the Court of First Instance of Tunis, according to these sources.
Living in France, Moncef Marzouki, the first democratically elected president in Tunisia after the 2011 Revolution, is being prosecuted in this case after statements published on social networks, according to local media.
He was convicted at first instance of trying to
“change the form of government
, ”
“inciting people to arm themselves against each other,”
and
“causing disorder and looting”
in the country. , indicated the private radio Mosaïque FM citing a judicial source.
Contacted by AFP, the spokesperson for the Tunis public prosecutor's office could not be reached.
An “enemy of Tunisia”
At the end of 2021, Moncef Marzouki had already been sentenced to four years in prison for
“endangering state security abroad”
after having, during a demonstration in Paris, called on the French government to
“reject all support”
to President Saïed, whom he had accused of having
“plotted against the Revolution”
.
Since November 2021, he has also been the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by a Tunisian judge shortly after Kais Saïed asked to investigate various comments by Moncef Marzouki, described as an “
enemy of Tunisia”
, and to withdraw his diplomatic passport.
After President Saïed's coup in July 2021 by which he granted himself all powers, Moncef Marzouki increased his interventions on television channels and social networks to call for the dismissal of a man he describes as of
“putschist”
and
“dictator”
.
Historical opponent of the dictatorship of Ben Ali then first president of the post-revolution (2011-2014), Moncef Marzouki, 79 years old, has long symbolized the fight for democracy in Tunisia, even if his image has been blurred due to notably his controversial alliance with the Islamo-conservative party Ennahdha, thanks to which he won the presidential election, according to analysts.