Tunisia. Kafkaesque justice and cancellation of the visit of the UN Rapporteur
It was through the press that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Margaret Satterhwaite learned on Friday April 28 that her visit to Tunisia scheduled for May 16 to 26, 2023 was canceled by the authorities without a new date is fixed.
Repression behind closed doors
On her Twitter account, the Rapporteur does not hide her “ disappointment ” and “ hopes that there is a good reason for this postponement ”, indicating that it “was reported in the press”.
This much-awaited visit by defenders of human rights and the independence of justice should have taken place in a context of President Kaïs Saïed's stranglehold on Tunisian justice. Already, social media pages affiliated with the regime have criticized what they see as interference in the country's ' internal affairs ', carrying the official rhetoric, which has become more vocal since the arrest of Rached Ghannouchi sparked a wave of protest. international outrage. The President of the Republic and his Minister of Foreign Affairs had then castigated the declarations of foreign countries, judging them “ unacceptable ” and “ inadmissible ”.
It was through the same pages on social networks that Ghazi Chaouachi's lawyers learned of the cancellation of their client's hearing scheduled for Wednesday, April 26. Arrested in the so-called conspiracy against state security with several opposition figures, the lawyer and former secretary general of the Democratic Current was to be heard in a completely different case. He is indeed being prosecuted on the basis of Decree-Law 54-2022 promulgated in September 2022 officially to fight against “ false information or false rumours ” but which, in fact, is used to limit freedom of expression and muzzle the opposition.
Judges. Disease as a cure
The reasons for this postponement? A sick leave filed by the judge of which the defense committee was only informed at “ the last minute ”, according to lawyer Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek. His colleague Ahmed Souab, a former judge, knows these practices well. Speaking on private radio Diwan FM on the same day, he claims sick leave was used under the old regime by ' honourable judges ' to avoid having to make arbitrary decisions imposed by the executive against his opponents.
Without having information on the particular situation of this judge, a mysterious epidemic seems to have affected a certain number of magistrates, in particular those of the anti-terrorism pole. Several lawyers for political prisoners had already reported that the offices of several of them had been deserted since February and the arrest of opponents accused of conspiracy, citing health reasons. Judges who continue their work find themselves faced with a dilemma: imprison people without reason or evidence or be dismissed and risk prison themselves. “ The judge was shot at the time of issuing the arrest warrant against Chaïma Issa ”, the first female political prisoner under Kaïs Saïed, testified Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek. “He held his head in his hands and said he had no choice , ”she says.
These fears are far from unfounded. At the end of February, the examining magistrate who decided to release Hattab Ben Othman, president of the national union of agents and executives of justice, found his office closed and was prevented from entering it. A few days later, he was subjected to an inspection and suspended, according to his lawyer, Inès Harrath. Othman Ben Hattab was then rearrested and a warrant of committal was eventually issued by another judge.
In June 2022, Kaïs Saïed had decided to dismiss 57 magistrates unilaterally and without the possibility of appeal, despite a decision by the administrative court to annul this decision for 49 of them. Among them, Béchir Akremi, former public prosecutor of the Court of Tunis, was the subject of judicial harassment. Imprisoned for months, his release was prevented by the police despite the decision of the investigating judge. As for Othman Ben Hattab, another arrest warrant had been issued against him. At the same time, Kais Saïed had warned: “ He who clears them becomes their accomplice .”
Source : websites