Four people accused in the 2013 murder of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid have been sentenced to death.

A total of 23 persons had been charged with the death of communist Belaid.

PHOTO | COURTESY Chokri Belaid

Other offenders received sentences ranging from two to 120 years, with five acquitted.

On February 6, 2013, Belaid, a vocal opponent of the then-ruling Islamist party Ennahdha, was assassinated in his automobile outside his home.

Jihadists loyal to the Islamic State claimed Belaid's killing and that of Mohamed Brahmi, another left-wing opposition member, six months later.

PHOTO | COURTESY Chokri Belaid

Authorities said in 2014 that Kamel Gadhgadhi, the principal offender in the Belaid case, had been killed in an anti-terrorist operation.

Belaid and Brahmi were both outspoken critics of Ennahdha, the party that ruled Tunisian politics with a parliamentary majority for a decade after the 2011 revolution.

The party's political clout was diminished in July 2021 when President Kais Saied attempted a massive power grab.