Tunisian court toughens sentences in US Embassy attack case after 13 years

By Yamena Salemi and Ahmed Asmar

TUNIS, Tunisia / A Tunisian appeals court on Friday toughened the sentences against 20 defendants accused of being involved in the 2012 attack on the US Embassy in Tunis.

Court spokesperson Habib Tarkhani told the country's official news agency that the sentences ranged from 8 years and 3 months imprisonment, showing a significant increase from the original suspended two-year sentences issued in 2013.

Tarkhani said the court's Criminal Chamber convicted the defendants for storming and vandalizing the embassy compound during the Sept. 14, 2012, protests against an anti-Islam film produced in the US.

During the incident, the assailants, described by Tunisian media as "Salafists and extremists from the banned Ansar al-Sharia group," burned vehicles and damaged facilities at both the embassy and the adjacent American school.

The ruling overturns a lenient 2013 verdict issued during Ali Laarayedh's government (2013-2014), which had imposed only two-year suspended sentences.

The 2012 violence left four attackers dead and dozens injured, with Washington subsequently demanding $18.2 million in compensation for damage to the embassy and the school.