صحافة بلادي صحيفة إلكترونية مغاربية متجددة على مدار الساعة تعنى بشؤون المغرب الجزائر ليبيا موريتانيا تونس
Tunisia –The Tunisian Court of Appeal issued a final ruling imprisoning the former Prime Minister and leader of the Ennahda Movement, Ali Al-Arayedh, for a period of 24 years, within the framework of the case known in the media as the file of “deporting young people to combat hotspots” in Syria during the period between 2012 and 2013.
The ruling came after a lengthy session during which the defense arguments continued until late into the night, before the court announced on Friday morning its decision, which also included varying rulings against a number of defendants, including former security leaders. The court also ruled to imprison Saif al-Din al-Rayes, the former spokesman for the Ansar al-Sharia organization, for three years.
The Tunisian judiciary charged Al-Arrayedh, who has been detained since 2023, on charges related to forming and joining a “terrorist group,” in addition to using Tunisian territory to commit terrorist crimes against a foreign country and its citizens.
Investigations into this case were launched after a complaint filed by former MP Fatima Al-Masdi in December 2021, related to suspicions of facilitating the travel of young Tunisians to combat zones in Syria during Al-Arrayed’s period of government and security responsibilities.
On the other hand, the Ennahdha Movement denounced the ruling and considered it “unjust,” stressing that it falls within a series of trials that have affected a number of its leaders in recent years. The leader of the movement, Riyad Al-Shuaibi, said that the ruling “is not based on real evidence,” considering that the case has a political background.
Al-Shuaibi pointed out that Al-Arrayedh was one of the first officials to classify “Ansar al-Sharia” as a terrorist organization in 2013 when he was Minister of Interior, and he also launched security measures to prevent young people from traveling to conflict areas.
In May 2025, the Court of First Instance had sentenced Al-Arayed to 34 years in prison, before the sentence was reduced on appeal to 24 years.
These developments come in the context of political and judicial tension that Tunisia has witnessed since 2021, after President Kais Saied announced exceptional measures that included dissolving Parliament and assuming executive and legislative powers, a step that his opponents described as a “coup,” while his supporters considered it a path to correcting the political situation in the country.
Source:“My press”
