Tunis: Lawyer Islem Hamza, a member of the defence committee for those detained in the “conspiracy against state security” case, said that the 14-month legal period of pre-trial detention for those arrested in this case will end at midnight on Friday, April 19, 2024.
This maximum 14-month period cannot be extended because the Indictment Chamber has not referred the case to the Criminal Chamber, she said at a press conference organised by the Defence Collective at the Lawyers’ House on Tuesday.
She called for the immediate release of those arrested in connection with the case.
She added that the Indictment Chamber was supposed to refer the case to the Criminal Chamber, which had failed to do so and had also committed “a clear violation of the rules of procedure”.
In this case, the violation was the “late” referral of the case file to the examining magistrate instead of to the Criminal Division, which has the authority to close the investigation.
The lawyer pointed out that the Defence Committee was still
waiting for the decision on the closure of the investigation in order to know the exact charges against the accused and thus to be able to prepare its report and submit its objections.
However, since these legal procedures have not been completed, “the defendants should now be automatically acquitted without any request”, she added.
For her part, Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek, a member of the defence committee, pointed out that the charges against Khayam Turki, Kamel Letaief and Noureddine Bhiri (who was recently released and included in the case) essentially relate to “forming a terrorist cartel”, “financing terrorism” and “plotting to change the form of government”. These are all offences listed in Article 72 of the Penal Code.
There are also charges of “failing to report a terrorist offence, conspiring against the internal and external security of the state and insulting the President of the Republic”.
Ghazi Chaouachi and Jawher Ben Mbarek were charged with “complicity in the formation of a terrorist carte
l, failure to report a terrorist crime, conspiracy against the internal and external security of the state and insulting the President of the Republic”.
As for Issam Chebbi, Abdelhamid Jelassi and Ridha Belhaj, they are charged with “membership of a terrorist cartel”, “failure to report terrorist crimes” and “plotting against the internal and external security of the state”, she said.
The defence lawyers will file an “obligatory” application for release with the Appeals Court’s Appeals Division next Friday, as all the defendants have served their 14-month pre-trial detention, Msadek said. She stressed that if the defendants are not released, they will be considered by law to be in forced detention.
Msadek also announced that the defence committee had decided to take the case to the United Nations human rights bodies and relevant international courts, including the United Nations Human Rights Office and the African Court of Human Rights, to demand their release.
The facts of the “conspiracy against state s
ecurity” case date back to February 2023, when a number of politicians, civil society activists and lawyers were arrested on charges of “forming an agreement with the aim of conspiring against the internal and external security of the state”.
In July 2023, two defendants in the case, Chaima Issa and Lazhar Akremi, were released. Their release was accompanied by a double ban on travel and public appearances.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse