TUNIS, TUNISIA - JULY 25, 2025: Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of the Tunisian capital on Friday, demanding the release of political prisoners following a series of controversial convictions targeting opposition figures and former officials.

Protesters marched through central Tunis, holding banners and chanting slogans as they called for the immediate release of detained political figures.

The demonstration comes in the wake of harsh prison sentences handed down by a Tunisian court against several prominent individuals accused of conspiring against state security—charges many in Tunisia view as politically motivated.

Earlier this month, a Tunisian court sentenced Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the opposition Ennahdha Party, to 14 years in prison on charges related to "conspiracy against state security" and "belonging to a terrorist group,” the state-run Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) reported.

The verdict was issued by the criminal chamber for terrorism-related cases at the Tunis First Instance Court.

Alongside Ghannouchi, the court sentenced several former officials and political figures to 12 years in prison, including former intelligence chief Mahrez Zouari, former head of aircraft security at Tunis-Carthage International Airport Abdelkarim Abidi, senior Ennahda official Habib Ellouze and Rayan Hamzaoui, the mayor of Ezzahra in Ben Arous province.