In the early morning of 19 April, a Tunis court issued sentences in a mass trial of 40 lawyers, opposition figures, and critics of the president. Thirty-seven defendants were sentenced to heavy prison terms of up to 66 years after just three court sessions, during which they were not heard or given a real opportunity to present their defence.
They were charged with conspiracy against state security and terrorism, connected to political activities like meeting with European diplomats, such as the French and Italian ambassadors.
The 'Conspiracy Case', as it has become known, reflects just how far Tunisia has fallen from the birthplace of the Arab Spring back to an era of political prisoners.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the convictions and called on the Tunisian authorities to put an end to the wider pattern of political prosecution.
But the EU had the most feeble reaction possible.
A commission spokesman said it “has taken note of the heavy verdict,” and that “the EU regularly recalls the importance of freedom of expression, respect for the right to a fair trial and due process in its exchanges with the Tunisian authorities.”
The defendants didn’t get so much as a semblance of a fair trial, with authorities using the case to muzzle what’s left of political opposition in the country. Many defendants have been forced into exile and those in Tunisia face years in prison.
Following the verdict, the authorities arrested a defence lawyer in the case, Ahmed Souab, after he issued statements to the media. He was placed in custody under the country’s counterterrorism law and is accused of “terrorist and common law offences.”
In 2021, following a decade in which Tunisia passed reforms and made progress on human rights, president Kais Saied seized control of Tunisia’s state institutions and dramatically intensified repression of dissent.
The authorities have crushed political opposition; threatened, intimidated, and targeted civil society groups; drastically curtailed freedom of expression and the press; undermined the independence of the judiciary; cracked down on migrants, asylum seekers and refugees; and criminalised assistance to them.
Yet the EU, one of Tunisia’s main international partners, has been largely silent in the face of this escalating repression, focusing on cooperation on other issues like migration control.
In 2023, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen signed a Memorandum of Understanding with president Saied, in return seeking Tunisia’s cooperation to prevent boats carrying migrants and asylum seekers from irregularly departing for Europe.
The migration control part of the deal failed to include genuine human rights guarantees, despite mounting evidence that Tunisian security forces are committing serious violations.
Tunisians are paying a steep price for the European Union’s singular focus on migration and abandonment of human rights priorities.
While the bloc attempts to seal its borders — irregular boat arrivals to Italy from Tunisia decreased 80 percent in 2024 — Tunisians are being robbed of hard-won civil and political rights gained after the 2011 revolution.
And African foreign nationals in Tunisia are suffering serious rights violations under the EU externalisation policy, under which Tunisian authorities have put in place abusive border controls, used excessive force, and carried out mass expulsions following interceptions at sea and arbitrary arrests on land.
Since 2021, Tunisian authorities have taken full advantage of the lack of international condemnation to move forward with their crackdown. The authorities have weaponised arbitrary detention and abusive prosecutions against people perceived as critical of the government, targeting opponents from across the political spectrum. Some of those detained on abusive charges face the death penalty if convicted.
Last year, Saied won reelection after excluding or arresting almost all opposition candidates.
Despite the escalating repression and full-scale crackdown on dissidents, the commission recently proposed including Tunisia in a list of seven “safe countries of origin.”
If adopted by the European Parliament and Council, the proposal would fast-track asylum procedures — and rejections — for Tunisians under the presumption that they do not really need protection in the EU.
Such a system would prejudice their cases and could mean those who do face risks will not get a fair assessment.
The European Union and its member states should stop pretending they can satisfy their immediate interests by cosying up with an increasingly repressive leadership in Tunis.
Rubber-stamping Tunisia as safe will not make it so for those fleeing persecution and detention. Similarly, banking on Tunisian authorities’ record of violating migrants’ rights in the hope that fewer people will try to cross to Europe cannot be a winning strategy.
The EU leadership should end its silence, publicly condemn the deteriorating human rights situation in Tunisia, and make it clear that future partnerships will be linked to genuine human rights progress and key reforms.
The EU should review cooperation agreements with Tunisia to ensure they are tied to compliance with international human rights obligations, and end support to security agencies committing human rights violations.
This story has been developing for years, and we have been covering it for years. For more context, check out our new experimental format on the EU-Tunisia migrant deal.
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Bassam Khawaja is deputy Middle East and north Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
Bassam Khawaja is deputy Middle East and north Africa director at Human Rights Watch.