A Tunisian court specialising in terrorism cases has sentenced three civil servants to a total of 72 years in prison for forging official documents that granted citizenship to foreign nationals linked to terrorist activities, according to local media reports on Wednesday.
Among the convicted are two former employees of the Tunisian consulate in Syria and one official from the municipal office in Tunis. Their actions reportedly enabled several individuals with ties to terrorism to obtain Tunisian nationality and enter the country illegally.
Authorities launched an investigation into the case following the closure of Tunisia’s embassy in Syria amid the outbreak of the civil war. The probe also extended to prominent political figures, including former Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri, who is currently in custody.
According to Mosaique FM radio, the forgery involved the illegal issuance of birth certificates, identity cards, and passports between 2015 and 2019. The Tunisian Foreign Ministry confirmed the scope of the document falsification during this period.
In addition to the lengthy prison terms, the court imposed further sanctions, including the stripping of the defendants’ civil and political rights