TUNISIA. APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MILITANT

February 20, 2008: a Tunisian appeals court upheld a death sentence of a suspected Islamic militant convicted in connection with deadly clashes with security officials. The court confirmed a death sentence against Saber Ragoubi, 24.
He was convicted on charges including incitement to killing and "provoking disorder and death" as part of a terrorist plot. The defendant can appeal again to the Court of Cassation, Tunisia's highest court, because of the severity of the sentences.
The defendants, 29 Tunisians and a Mauritanian, allegedly belonged to a group called the Soldiers of Assan Ibn Al Fourat that was involved in clashes with security forces last December and in January.
They were arrested following an attack on the group in Soliman, 40 km south of the capital. A total of 14 people, 12 group members, a soldier and a police officer, died in confrontation. (Sources: International Herald Tribune, 21/02/2008)