Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, living in France and fiercely critical of the coup by the current head of state Kais Saied, was sentenced in absentia to four years in prison, a source said on Wednesday judicial.
The source was unable to specify the charge on which Mr. Marzouki was convicted by a Tunis court of the first instance.
Contacted by AFP, his lawyer Lamia Khemiri said Mr. Marzouki had not received any summons, adding that she “does not know why he was convicted”.
Local media reported that Marzouki was found guilty of “undermining state security abroad” and causing him “diplomatic prejudice”.
A Tunisian judge issued an international arrest warrant against Mr. Marzouki at the beginning of November, two weeks after President Saied asked the Tunisian justice to open an investigation into the former president’s statements and withdraw his diplomatic passport to the one who appears in his eyes “among the enemies of Tunisia”.
During a demonstration in early October in Paris, Mr. Marzouki called on the French government to “reject all support” for Mr. Saied “who plotted against the revolution and abolished the Constitution”.
He also welcomed the postponement of the Francophonie summit which was scheduled for November in Tunisia, seeing it as a disavowal for Mr. Saied after his coup.
After months of political blockage and in the midst of an economic and health crisis, Mr. Saied invoked on July 25 an “imminent danger” to dismiss the Prime Minister, suspend the activities of Parliament and take back the judiciary in hand.
Since this coup, Mr. Marzouki has stepped up on television channels and social networks to call for the dismissal of a man he describes as a “coup leader” and “dictator”.
Historical opponent to the dictatorship of Ben Ali then the first president of the post-revolution (2011-2014), Moncef Marzouki, 76, has long symbolized the fight for democracy in Tunisia, even if his image has been blurred by the fact in particular of its controversial alliance with Ennahdha, – the party of Islamist inspiration.
