UPDATE 1-Seven jailed for life over Tunisian museum, hotel massacres
Other defendants received jail sentences ranging from 16 years to six months, state news agency TAP quoted court spokesman Soufiane Sliti as saying. In all, 51 suspects stood trial, of whom 27 were acquitted, in hearings that lasted 18 months. The assault on the Bardo National Museum left 21 people dead, while 38 were killed in the beach resort of Sousse, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of the capital. Islamic State claimed both attacks.
The twin massacres, which took place within three months of each other, devastated Tunisia's economy - tourism is a major earner of foreign currency that accounts for about 8 percent of gross domestic product - as major European tour operators took flight. The attacks also acted as a brake on political reforms hailed as a model of democratic transition following its 2011 'Arab Spring' uprising.
Tunisia remains one of the most secular countries in the Arab world, but authorities estimate about 3,000 of its citizens have joined Islamic State and other jihadist groups in Iraq, Syria and Libya. Tourists have gradually returned as security has been stepped up, and Tunisia attracted a record 8.3 million visitors in 2018 as hotels were filled with holidaymakers from Algeria, Russia and other parts of Europe. (Reporting by Mohamed Argoubi Writing by Ahmed Eljechtimi Editing by John Stonestreet)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- TAP Air Portugal
- Hotel Urbano
- Boutique hotel
- Hotel Transylvania
- Transport museum
- Museum of Sex
- Aviation museum
- Tunisian Revolution
- Tunisian Football Federation
- Mediterranean Grill
- Mediterranean Cosmos
- Mediterranean Basin
- Nuremberg trials
- Cause of action
- U.S. County
- The Usual Suspects
- Law of Suspects
- Black tar heroin
- Tourist attraction
- Wikki Tourists F.C.
ALSO READ
Police create task forces to apprehend suspects in assault case of Muslim student from Pune varsity amid 'love jihad' allegations
Police rescue eight African women from sex trafficking ring; two suspects apprehended
Nine people killed as boat capsizes in Mediterranean, Italy coast guard says
Russian authorities neutralize 2 suspects believed to be planning terror attacks
Woman stabbed to death by neighbours in Delhi’s Shahdara, suspects cry foul