Tunisia jails 3 civil servants for forging citizenship documents 

A Tunisian terrorism court has sentenced three employees, including two former employees of the Tunisian consulate in Syria, to 72 years in prison for forging citizenship documents for “foreigners” involved in terror acts, local media reported yesterday.

Tunisian authorities began investigating the case following the closure of the Tunisian embassy in Syria during the outbreak of the civil war there. The investigation included former Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri, who is currently under arrest.

Tunisia’s Mosaique FM radio reported that two of the defendants previously worked at the Tunisian consulate in Syria, while the third worked as an employee at the Tunis City Hall.

The three defendants face charges of granting Tunisian citizenship documents to foreigners, a number of whom were involved in terrorist crimes, to facilitate their entry into Tunisia.

The Foreign Ministry previously said the investigations included the forgery of documents and the issuance of birth certificates, official identity cards, and Tunisian passports between 2015 and 2019.

In addition to the prison sentences, the court issued additional penalties against the defendants, including deprivation of civil and political rights, according to the same source.