By Tarek Amara
TUNIS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A Tunisian court sentenced prominent opposition figure Abir Moussi to 12 years in prison, her lawyer said on Friday, in what rights groups say is another step towards entrenching President Kais Saied's one-man rule.
"The ruling is unjust and is not a judicial decision but a politically motivated order," Moussi's lawyer Nafaa Laribi told Reuters.
Moussi, leader of the Free Constitutional Party, has been imprisoned since 2023 after police arrested her at the presidential palace entrance on suspicion of assault intended to cause chaos, in what critics say was part of a crackdown on opposition politicians.
She rejected the charges, saying she was simply exercising her right to criticize and legal opposition, vowing to continue resisting what she called "abuse, torture, and political and moral violence".
Moussi is one of dozens of prominent politicians currently behind bars amid growing criticism that Saied is escalating a crackdown on his critics, including journalists, activists, civil society groups and opposition leaders.
Last month an appeals court handed jail terms of up to 45 years to dozens of opposition leaders, business figures and lawyers on charges of conspiracy to overthrow Saied.
Rights groups and opponents say Saied has destroyed the independence of the judiciary since he shut down the elected parliament in 2021. In 2022 he dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges — moves that opposition groups and rights advocates condemned as a coup.
Saied denies having become a dictator or using the judiciary against opponents, saying he is cleansing Tunisia of “traitors”.
(Reporting By Tarek Amara; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alex Richardson)
