Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, a leading figure in the Tunisian opposition arrested

One of the leading opposition figures in Tunisia, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, was arrested on Thursday by the authorities following his sentencing last week by a Tunis Court of Appeal.

Ahmed was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a mega trial for conspiracy against the state security on Friday, November 28.

He joins 36 other opposition politicians and activists in prison who have been sentenced between five to forty-five years in prison.

Those decisions also led to the arrest of opposition figure and National Salvation Front leader Chaima Issa, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Issa was seized by plainclothes officers and forced into an unmarked civilian vehicle as she was going home after taking part in an opposition protest on Saturday. She has since announced she is beginning a hunger strike to protest the circumstances of her arrest.

Saied and his government rejected accusations that the proceedings are politically motivated, stating on multiple occasions that prosecutions are a necessary step to safeguard the state from what they describe as serious national security threats and alleged plots to destabilize the country.

Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, from Tozeur, Tunisia, led the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) for 23 years, a party founded in 1981.

A left-wing activist and lawyer from the 1980s, he opposed dictatorships under Habib Bourguiba and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, and was even imprisoned.

In 2011, he joined the National Constituent Assembly after the Tunisian revolution, and in 2022, he formed the National Salvation Front with others to oppose President Kaïs Saïed.