Tunis: They will be persecuted, hunted down, judged and held accountable!”, these unforgettable words, forever engraved in the memory of Tunisians, were spoken by Chokri Belaïd, lawyer and left-wing leader, to his fellow citizens at the end of 2012, after the “buckshot events” in Siliana, during which peaceful demonstrations were crushed by manu militari.
These striking words became a political slogan used by a large group of committed militants and activists who never ceased to demand the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the assassination of Chokri Belaïd.
This masterful formula, soaked in the ink of a healthy and upright patriotism, has been echoed by many human rights defenders in the country who are calling for accountability and the prosecution of those responsible for the political assassinations and terrorist attacks that have taken place in Tunisia in recent years.
His friends, colleagues and compatriots should be relieved to see their immense efforts crowned with success afte
r so many years of judicial trampling. A verdict that cannot be achieved without a firm political will to get the long-running trials back on track.
It should be recalled that President Kaïs Saïed, has repeatedly condemned attempts to obstruct the adjudication of certain cases “within a reasonable timeframe”, including in particular the cases of the political assassinations of Chokri Belaïd and the former deputy and general coordinator of the Popular Current, Mohamed Brahmi, who was murdered on July 25, 2013.
At dawn on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, the Tunisian judiciary finally delivered its verdict in this tumultuous and controversial case, which has been the subject of much ink since the heinous crime was committed. The verdict came after 11 years of investigation and 15 hours of deliberation.
The 23 defendants involved in the trial of the martyr Chokri Belaïd, an outstanding and courageous activist who sacrificed his life for democracy, just causes and the right of Tunisians to live in dignity, received
heavy sentences ranging from the death penalty to dismissal of the case.
The verdict finally answers the incessant questions that have haunted Tunisians for more than a decade.
Chokri Belaïd, a lawyer, left-wing activist and human rights defender, had been involved in politics since his youth, when he was a student at Bourguiba’s school. At university, he fought bravely against despotism and for democracy. A formidable orator, Chokri Belaïd knew how to captivate audiences with his sharp wit and penetrating intelligence, which earned him a prison sentence in Rejim Maatoug in southern Tunisia in 1987.
After years of studying law, he joined the bar and defended political cases. He was known as a fearless defender of the underprivileged and as a lawyer for trade unionists and opponents of the Ben Ali regime. Fierce and tenacious, he never hesitated to stand up for the defendants in political trials, as demonstrated by his unprecedented commitment to the mine basin defendants in 2008.
Belaïd also defended the
defendants in the Soliman case in 2007 and the Salafist prisoners, despite his total and categorical rejection of their ideology and political project. He was at the forefront of the protests led by lawyers in December 2010, shortly before the fall of the Ben Ali regime.
After the revolution, Chokri Belaïd became a prominent political figure, serving as secretary general of the Unified Democratic Patriots party. Tunisians appreciated his clear and eloquent speech, his deep sense of social justice, his attachment to freedoms and his perfect knowledge of Tunisian reality and history.
Chokri Belaïd was also known for his verve, his pugnacity and his fierce criticism of the policies of the Troika in power in 2012 and of the Islamic movement Ennahdha and its leaders, whom he accused of wanting to “get their hands on the state apparatus” and the secrets of power, and of undermining the fundamental freedoms of Tunisian citizens.
When politics liberates justice
According to many political observers, Chokri Belaïd
‘s audacity and growing popularity have cost him dearly. His speech condemning violence and denouncing political Islam and the practices of Ennahdha earned him several death threats.
Chokri Belaïd has been the target of several frivolous demonisation campaigns by his detractors. “Whenever the Islamists feel under pressure, politically isolated and losing popularity, they resort to violence, terror and intimidation,” he often repeated.
“Beware of being dragged into the mould of violence. Indiscriminate violence only benefits obscurantist currents. It benefits the Ennadha movement,” he said in a television broadcast on the eve of his assassination.
On the grey morning of February 6, 2013, Chokri Belaïd was shot at close range outside his home. This heinous crime provoked anger and rage among Tunisians, who took to the streets in their thousands to express their deep indignation and demand accountability from the ruling authorities accused of being behind his death.
Chokri Belaïd’s state funeral on February
8, 2013 brought together tens of thousands of Tunisians to bid farewell to a prominent and charismatic opposition figurehead and to pay tribute to an upright and incomparable activist.
His tragic death marked a decisive turning point in Tunisia’s political landscape. Opposition parties and the Tunisian General Labour Union, the country’s main trade union structure, called for a general strike.
For their part, lawyers, judges, university teachers and other sections of civil society threatened to go on strike, pointing the finger of blame at the Ennahdha movement. These accusations were immediately denied by the movement’s leader, Rached Ghannouchi.
Abroad, outrage spread to several Arab and Western capitals, which described the crime as “cowardly” and “despicable” and aimed at “destabilising Tunisia”.
In an attempt to calm the violent protests triggered by the assassination of the leftist leader, the then head of government, Hamadi Jebali, decided in a televised address to the Tunisian people to form a “ne
w government of national competence without political affiliation”, paving the way for the suspension of the work of the National Constituent Assembly a few months later and the organisation of legislative and presidential elections in 2014.
From now on, eleven years after the assassination of Chokri Belaïd, his killers will remain behind bars. Tunisian justice is entering a new phase of the rule of law, in which no one can claim total impunity.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse