Ahmed Najib Chebbi is a Tunisian lawyer and politician known for his long-standing opposition to dictatorship in Tunisia, which led to his imprisonment and arrest in the 1970s. He ran twice in presidential elections before the revolution as a challenger to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and after the revolution he was elected as a member of the National Constituent Assembly. He is also the president of the National Salvation Front, which opposes the regime of President Kais Saied.
Following his opposition political activity after 25 July 2021, Chebbi found himself accused of belonging to a terrorist organization within the framework of the case publicly known as the “Conspiracy Against State Security Case.” This case began in early February 2023 following a letter sent by the National Unit for the Investigation of Terrorism and Organized Crime and Crimes Against the Integrity of National Territory to Minister of Justice Leila Jaffel on 10 February 2023. The case included more than 40 opposition figures, human rights defenders, and activists who were charged with conspiracy against state security and belonging to a terrorist organization, based on their political positions and opposition to the authorities.
The case was marked by serious violations, including breaches of defense rights, the imposition of remote hearings, and preventing defendants from attending their own sessions, in addition to exceeding the legal limits of pretrial detention, as well as violations inside prisons, including ill-treatment of several political detainees. On 11 February 2023, a wide campaign of raids and arrests against a number of political opponents began. This campaign was considered the effective starting point of the file known as the “Conspiracy Against Internal and External State Security.”
On 21 February 2023, Ahmed Najib Chebbi’s name was added to the list of persons under investigation after conversations were found on the phone of politician Khayam Turki, leading to the drafting of an official report that was referred to the Public Prosecutor at the Judicial Pole for Counter-Terrorism.
On 3 May 2023, the regional Bar Association was informed that a judicial investigation had been opened against Chebbi. The following day, 4 May 2023, Chebbi stated at a press conference that he might soon be among those detained in this politically motivated case.
He was subsequently summoned for questioning on 15 June 2023, when he was heard by the investigating judge and ordered to remain at liberty pending trial, despite objections from the defense, which maintained that the case was political in nature and based on interpretations rather than on acts criminalized by law.
With the opening of the first trial session before the chamber specializing in terrorism cases on 4 March 2025, the court decided to hold the hearing remotely via video conferencing. Chebbi appeared at the court and then left, refusing to appear before the bench in protest against the failure to bring the other detainees and demanding a public, in-person hearing. The same scene was repeated at the second hearing on 11 April 2025, where Chebbi maintained his demand for a public, in-person session and rejected a trial conducted behind screens. At the third hearing on 18 April 2025, Chebbi again boycotted the session, yet the Court of First Instance in Tunis issued its judgments in the case, involving 40 defendants with sentences ranging from 4 to 66 years. Chebbi was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Following the appeal, the first appeal hearing was held on 23 October 2025 and was postponed twice. On 27 November 2025, Criminal Chamber No. 27 at the Tunis Court of Appeal issued a ruling sentencing Chebbi to 12 years in prison. The sentence was enforced on Thursday evening, 4 December 2025, when he was arrested at his home and taken to prison. Moments before his arrest, he wrote, ”I will not give up my dignity, nor my defense of the dignity of Tunisians. I will go to prison reassured and optimistic.”
