Tunisian court sentences ex- President Moncef Marzouki to eight years in prison after found guilty in absentia

A Tunisian court sentenced former President Moncef Marzouki to eight years in prison after he was found guilty in absentia of seeking to provoke disorder. Acording to media reports, Mr Marzouki lives in France and was not present at the hearing. He was country's first democratically elected head of state after the country's 2011 Arab Spring revolution.

A spokesperson for the court said, the verdict was based on statements by Marzouki that included incitement in a



speech he gave in Paris.

Mr Marzouki was previously sentenced to four years in absentia in 2021 after he called for France to end its support for President Kais Saied. Elected democratically in 2019 with a five-year mandate, Mr Saied launched a power grab in July 2021, dismissing the prime minister and suspending the parliament. He later pushed through sweeping changes to concentrate power in his office.