According to local sources, a Tunisian court condemned eight suspects to death on Tuesday for the 2013 assassination of Mohamed Brahmi, a socialist opposition activist.
“Attempting to change the state’s nature” and “inciting armed conflict” were among the charges, according to local media.
According to the sources, three of the defendants were also given additional death sentences for “deliberate participation in premeditated murder”.
A ninth, who is now at large, was found guilty of “failing to report terrorist crimes to the authorities” and given a five-year prison sentence.
Despite a de facto moratorium that has been in place since 1991, which effectively commutes death convictions to life sentences, Tunisia continues to impose death sentences, especially in “terrorism” instances.
In the midst of Tunisia’s unstable post-revolution political environment, Brahmi was assassinated on July 25, 2013, outside his home. The verdict was the first set of rulings in the case.
Demonstrators took to the streets across the country, as Brahmi’s distinctive round face and thick mustache became symbols of protest against jihadist violence.
A prominent opponent of the Islamist-inspired government then controlled by Ennahdha, Brahmi was a nationalist left-wing leader of the People’s Movement and a member of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly.
Less than six months after Chokri Belaid, another well-known Marxist activist, was shot dead outside his home, his assassination rocked the country even more.
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