Tunisia – Bélaïd assassination case scheduled for hearing on April 7

The Criminal Chamber of the Tunis Court of Appeal will examine the case of the assassination of martyr Chokri Belaid on April 7, and the session will be devoted to hearing the defense’s arguments.

The chamber has finished interrogating all detainees in the case and is expected to deliver its judgment after the lawyers’ closing arguments.

The Criminal Chamber specializing in terrorism cases of the Tunis Court of First Instance delivered its ruling in the case on March 27, 2024, condemning four defendants to death: Mohamed Amin al-Guesmi, the Vespa driver; Azzedine Abdellawi, a dismissed security guard; and Mohamed al-Awadi.

Abdellawi and Awadi were present at a meeting at the house of Abu Iyad, leader of the banned terrorist organization Ansar al-Sharia, in Hammam Lif, and approved the martyr’s assassination.

Mohamed al-Akkari, head of Ansar al-Sharia’s security apparatus, was also sentenced to death. In contrast, Mohamed Ali Damak, who provided the vehicle used in the assassination, and Abdel Raouf Talbi, a doctor, were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The other sentences varied from dismissal of charges to two to 120 years’ imprisonment after calculating the total length of the prison sentences handed down individually, including granting cumulative sentences to some defendants, dismissal of charges for five defendants prosecuted for the same acts and offenses in other cases, and the placing of all defendants under administrative supervision for a period of between three and five years.