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TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia’s highest judicial body, the Court of Cassation, has delivered a final ruling upholding long prison sentences for dozens of high-profile opposition leaders, legal practitioners and human rights advocates convicted in a widely divisive state security conspiracy case, according to judicial sources cited by Tunisia’s state-run news agency TAP Thursday evening. The court rejected all appeals filed by the defendants, leaving intact sentences of up to 45 years originally issued by a lower appellate court in 2023. This verdict has amplified already widespread international scrutiny of President Kais Saied’s administration, deepening alarms over the erosion of judicial independence and political pluralism in the North African nation. The conspiracy case stands as a central pillar of a sweeping government crackdown that has unfolded since Saied seized nearly unchecked executive power in July 2021, when he moved to suspend parliament, dismiss the sitting prime minister’s cabinet, and rule the country via presidential decree. The charges brought against the defendants include conspiracy against the state’s internal and external security, membership in a terrorist organization, and plotting to alter the country’s system of governance — all allegations that the accused have consistently and vehemently denied, with their legal teams repeatedly challenging the legitimacy of the judicial process. Speaking at a Friday press conference, Faiza Rahem, wife of detained opposition activist Issam Chebbi, announced that families of the convicts would shift their legal fight into a broader political movement following the top court’s ruling. “After four years of ongoing harassment and persecution, we will not stop our work to defend the detainees. We will never grow tired or surrender,” Rahem stated. She added that the government’s repressive tactics have only hardened the opposition’s commitment: “As authoritarianism has grown more brutal, our ranks have grown, too. Every time they try to silence our voices, we only speak louder.” Saied has publicly backed the convictions, framing the prosecutions as a critical measure to safeguard Tunisia’s national security and hold what he calls enemies of the state accountable. He has previously labeled his political opponents “traitors” and “terrorists,” claiming the defendants in this case plotted to destabilize the country and incite widespread social unrest. Elected to the presidency in 2019 on a populist platform promising to dismantle Tunisia’s corrupt, dysfunctional post-Arab Spring political system, Saied has repeatedly rejected accusations that he is engineering a full authoritarian takeover to suppress all dissent. He maintains his sweeping executive actions are necessary to root out systemic corruption and shield Tunisia from foreign interference. Defense lawyers for the convicted individuals have already raised sharp objections to the handling of the appeal process, noting they received just three days’ advance notice of Thursday’s final hearing. The extremely short timeline, they argue, deprived them of adequate time to prepare a robust defense for their clients. The list of high-profile figures handed lengthy sentences includes veteran opposition leader Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, prominent activist Chaima Issa, and seasoned politicians Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, Ghazi Chaouachi, Ayachi Hammami, Khayam Turki and Abdelhamid Jelassi. A number of the defendants spent multiple years in pretrial detention before their convictions, while others who were released on bail during the lengthy appeals process have now been rearrested to begin serving their sentences after this final ruling. Global human rights organizations have harshly condemned the convictions. Amnesty International had publicly urged the Court of Cassation to overturn the guilty verdicts ahead of the ruling, describing the entire case as blatantly politically motivated and noting the trial was plagued by repeated violations of due process and basic legal rights. The organization has also raised urgent alarms over poor prison conditions for the detained opposition figures, warning that many convicts are already suffering from declining health, conditions that have been severely exacerbated by recent repeated heat waves in overcrowded, poorly ventilated prison facilities. In August, Haifa Chebbi, a lawyer and the daughter of 82-year-old Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, shared that her father, one of the most high-profile detainees, was experiencing severe shortness of breath and chronic extreme fatigue, with prison officials only providing minimal monitoring of his fragile health condition.

In a bold announcement delivered at a public rally Thursday, Kenyan President William Ruto has ordered Indian industrial firm Tata Chemicals to end its decades-long operations in the country, accusing the company of failing to deliver tangible economic benefits to one of Kenya’s key natural resource export sectors.

Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited, the firm’s local subsidiary, has held rights to extract and process soda ash from Kenya’s Lake Magadi since 2005. Soda ash, a critical raw material used in manufacturing glass, soaps and detergents, is derived from trona deposits found naturally in the lake, where large-scale commercial extraction of the mineral first launched more than a century ago, in 1911. Official Kenyan government data shows that between August 2024 and July 2025, soda ash exports from the country totaled 254,779 tons, with a combined market value of $56.9 million, marking the sector as a notable contributor to Kenya’s export revenue.

But President Ruto has rejected the company’s argument of its contribution to the national economy, arguing that Tata Chemicals has extracted billions of dollars worth of Kenyan natural resources for decades without delivering on local development commitments. Ruto specifically emphasized that the firm has failed to make meaningful infrastructure or industrial investments in Kajiado County, the administrative region that hosts Lake Magadi. “They have not built any factory or employed people [locally],” Ruto told attendees of the rally, adding that “they have been taking our resources and shipping them to India.” Under the president’s order, Tata Chemicals must “pack and leave” to clear the way for a new investor that will be required to build a domestic glass manufacturing facility to create local jobs and add value to Kenya’s natural resource exports before they are shipped overseas.

The national government first paused the company’s operations back in July, when the Kenyan Ministry of Mining suspended all activities pending a broad compliance review. The president’s order comes as the review is still ongoing, and the development raises immediate concerns over potential economic fallout: industry analysts warn that an abrupt exit by Tata Chemicals could lead to widespread layoffs for local workers and a significant short-term drop in national export revenue before a new operator can fully ramp up operations.

In an official statement filed with the National Stock Exchange of India on Friday, Tata Chemicals pushed back against the Kenyan government’s claims, asserting that it remains “fully compliant” with all local regulatory requirements. The company noted that it has not yet received formal official notification of Ruto’s exit order, and said it remains committed to “constructive engagement” with the Kenyan government to resolve the ongoing dispute over its operations.