The Fifth Criminal Chamber specialising in terrorism cases at the Tunis Court of First Instance issued its verdicts on Tuesday at the conclusion of a hearing regarding the defendants in the assassination case of the martyr Mohamed Brahmi.
The sentences ranged from the death penalty for eight defendants, along with additional prison terms, to a five-year sentence for a ninth defendant who is at large, with immediate enforcement.
The First Assistant to the Public Prosecutor at the Judicial Counter-Terrorism Division (affiliated with the Tunis Court of First Instance) stated in a comment to TAP news agency on Tuesday evening that these are the first verdicts in the case of the martyr Mohamed Brahmi, the General Coordinator of the Popular Current Party and member of the National Constituent Assembly, who was assassinated in front of his home on July 25, 2013.
The case had been postponed on several occasions, most recently on February 18 of this year.
According to the judicial source, the indictment chamber referred nine defendants in this case, eight of whom are in custody and one is at large. The court ruled that the eight detained defendants be sentenced to death for "the crime of intentional assault aimed at altering the form of the state, inciting citizens to kill each other with weapons, and causing chaos and murder on Tunisian soil."
The source added that three of the eight defendants received "an additional death sentence" for "the crime of participating in the intentional killing of a human being with premeditation."
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The judicial chamber also convicted each of the eight defendants of crimes, issuing prison sentences ranging from life imprisonment to fixed terms between 10 and 35 years.
Three of the detained defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment for "attempting to intentionally kill a human being," while the remaining defendants received fixed prison terms ranging from 10 to 35 years for "joining a terrorist organisation on Tunisian soil, receiving training with the intent to carry out terrorist acts, providing weapons, preparing a meeting place for members of a terrorist organisation, assisting in their shelter, and placing expertise at the disposal of a terrorist organisation."
The First Assistant to the Public Prosecutor stated that the court sentenced the ninth defendant, who is at large, to five years in prison with immediate enforcement for the misdemeanor of "failing to immediately notify the authorities of actions he became aware of and information or instructions he received regarding the commission of terrorist crimes."
The defendant was also placed under administrative surveillance for the duration of the sentence.
