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Tunisian Court Reconfirms Jail Sentence for Leftist Opposition Leader VOA News 3 Feb 2002 03:27 UTC 
A Tunisian court has reconfirmed a nine-year prison sentence against left-wing opposition leader Hamma Hammami and ordered him jailed immediately.
A court in Tunis took this action against Mr. Hammami Saturday after he came out of nearly four years of hiding.
He was sentenced to jail in absentia in 1999 for being a member of the outlawed Communist Workers Party of Tunisia. Reuters news agency says three other leaders of Tunisia's banned Communist Party also had absentia sentences confirmed on Saturday.
Tunisian law allows for retrial of people sentenced in absentia when they give themselves up to court judges. Human rights activists had warned the four left-wing leaders they would be quickly detained if they showed up at the courtroom.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.
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