Tunisia’s ex-president Moncef Marzouki sentenced to 8 years in absentia

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA
Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A court in Tunisia has sentenced former president Moncef Marzouki to eight years in prison in absentia as part of the country’s crackdown on opponents of President Kais Saied. The charges against Marzouki stemmed from remarks he made that authorities said violated laws prohibiting incitement and calling for the overthrow of the government, court spokesperson Mohamed Zitouna told Tunisia’s state news agency TAP on Friday evening. His attorney, Samir Ben Amor, told The Associated Press that the sentence illustrates “the hardening of the political line taken by the government against opponents.” Marzouki served as the first democratically elected president of Tunisia from 2011 to 2014, after Arab Spring protests.