Khaberni - The appeals court in Tunisia sentenced the leader of the "Ennahda Movement", Rached Ghannouchi, to 20 years in prison in the "Case of conspiring against state security 2".
The Tunisian news agency, quoting a judicial source, said that "the criminal division specialized in terrorism cases at the Tunis appeals court issued various sentences late Monday night into Tuesday, ranging from 3 to 35 years in prison in what is known in the media as the case of conspiring against state security 2".
It added that "the division sentenced Rached Ghannouchi to 20 years in prison and similarly Kamal Badawi (who had initially been sentenced to 14 years in prison), and sentenced Rayan Hamzawi to three years, Muhrez Zouari and Abdel Karim El Abidi to seven years, and Fathi Baldi and Samir Hannachi to 15 years in prison, placing each of them under administrative surveillance for five years starting from the date the sentence is carried out or expires, except Rayan Hamzawi where the administrative surveillance was reduced to two years, also the court ruled no case to answer regarding the accused released on bail Reda Ayari".
The court also "sentenced, in absentia, Moaz Al-Khariji, Nadia Akasha, Shahrazad Akasha, Kamal Quizani, Lotfi Zitoun, Maher Zid, Mustafa Khudr, Adel Al-Daadaa, Rafiq Bushlaka, and Abdelkader Ben Farhat to 35 years in prison, all of whom are fugitives".
The accused were charged "with forming an organization and agreement related to terrorist crimes, incitement by any means to commit the crime of murder, causing wounds, beatings and other forms of violence, forming an agreement to attack property and persons, and conspiring against domestic state security".
They were also charged "with attempted preparation intended to alter the state structure, intent linked with preparatory action, using the soil of the republic and the soil of a foreign state to recruit and train individuals and groups, intending to commit terrorist crimes inside and outside the country".
The official Tunisian agency mentioned that "the former Prime Minister Youssef Chahed appealed against the referral decision before the criminal division, and thus no judgment was originally issued against him, but his name was stricken from the file pending the outcome of the appeal, as was the case for the accused Rafik Yahya".
