A Tunisian court on Wednesday handed jail and
death sentences to 76 people for killing eight
soldiers in a jihadist hideout near the Algerian
border in 2013, the prosecution said.
Only seven accused, all Tunisian, appeared in
court during the trial that started in late 2014
over the killings in the mountainous area of
Chaambi, prosecution spokesperson Sofiene Sliti
said.
Four received seven years in jail, one was handed
a 13-year term and another was condemned to
death, while the seventh was cleared of all
charges.
The remaining 69 accused, all on the run and
mostly Algerian, were given sentences ranging
from 40 years to the death penalty, Sliti said, but
did not give a total number of death sentences.
They were found guilty of charges including
“terrorist crimes”, he said.
Tunisia has faced a rise in jihadist attacks since
the 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow of
longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The army has been tracking jihadists in the
Chaambi area since 2012.
Jihadist attacks in Tunisia have cost dozens of
lives among security forces as well as civilians,
and 59 foreign tourists were also killed in 2015.
Tunisia has executed more than 100 people since
independence from France in 1956, but has had a
moratorium on the death penalty since 1991.
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