Tunisia: judges urge president to rescind all arbitrary measures

On Monday, 45 Tunisian judges accused the country’s President, Kais Saied, of violating their freedoms, while urging him to “immediately rescind all arbitrary measures” against the judiciary, Anadolu has reported.

The judges expressed their “shock at the dangerous slip that the executive authority has fallen into while dealing with the judiciary file, by infringing on the powers of courts and the competencies of the Supreme Judicial Council.”

Saied decided on 25 July to dismiss Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and personally assume executive authority with the help of a government headed by a PM of his choice. He also froze parliament for a period of 30 days, lifted MPs’ immunity and took over the Public Prosecution service.

The judges’ denounced “the unjustified, horrific and unprecedented attack on judges’ freedom of movement and travel, like other citizens, in the absence of any judicial procedure to prevent them from doing so.”

READ: 12 Tunisia officials suspected of corruption banned from travel

“Placing a judge under house arrest… requires the Supreme Judicial Council to be informed in advance of the suspicious activities attributed to [the judge] that could pose a threat to public security and order, and obtaining the council’s prior approval before taking any action,” said the Tunisian Judges Association last week.

This was in response to the decision by the Minister of theInterior, Ridha Gharslawi, to place the former Public Prosecutor of the First Instance Court in the capital, Al-Bashir Al-Akrmi, under house arrest. Al-Akrmi was suspended in July pending a ruling on the charges his faces, including the accusation that he had “covered up terrorism-related files.”

Saied says that he took the recent exceptional measures based on Article 80 of the Constitution, with the aim of “saving the Tunisian state” in light of popular protests against the political, economic and health crises in the country.

However, the majority of Tunisian parties rejected these measures, with some regarding the presidential decisions to bea “coup against the constitution”. Others have supported the moves as the only way to correct the course of the revolution.

The full text of the statement signed by the judges can be found below:

No to the assault on the judiciary during the “extraordinary measures” phase

The undersigned judges:

Following the exceptional state in which our country finds itself after the invoking of Article 80 of the Constitution and the announcement of a number of extraordinary measures,

And following reports of subjecting all Tunisian judges to the “S17 border control” procedure without any justification or any legal basis and the consequent discrimination, humiliation and arbitrary defamation,

And following confirmed reports of preventing a number of judges from travelling abroad and returning them at border points, last of whom was Judge Imen Labidi, one of the most prominent judges among the 100 judges who signed the petition for removing the first president of the court of cassation and ending his impunity.

1. Express their shock at the dangerous backsliding by the executive in its dealings with the judiciary by usurping the authority of the courts and the powers of the supreme judicial council which violates the principle of the separation of powers and balance between them and the duty of respect due to the judiciary and non-interference in the course of justice.

2. Denounce the unprecedented wholesale flagrant attack on judges’ freedom of movement and travel as citizens in the absence of any judicial order preventing them from traveling.

3. Stress that freedom of movement and all constitutional rights, according to Article 49 of the Constitution, may only be limited by a legal text that is necessary for protecting the rights of others, public security, national defence, public health, public morals, etc. It is for the judiciary to protect these rights and freedoms from any violations, particularly during exceptional phases; and condemn the unleashing of the interior ministry, without any valid legal basis, to control members of the judiciary which represents the fundamental guarantee of the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law and protector of rights and freedoms.

4. Condemn the use of the unconstitutional order number 50 of 1978, dated 26 January 1978, to place two judges under house arrest without any legal text permitting that or a judicial order restricting their movement, and without clarifying the danger posed by either of the judges in question to public security and order. They further stress that their being subject to disciplinary or penal procedures is not a sufficient basis for justifying the measure, particularly since it is for the judiciary alone to take preventive measures in their regard.

5. Highlight the concurrence between the above mentioned arbitrary measures taken against judges with coordinated suspicious media campaigns run by criminal pages devoted to defaming independent judges known for their independent thought and commitment to the principles of accountability and combating corruption, and inciting people against them. They express their absolute solidarity with the judges subjected to such campaigns and call on the public prosecution to fulfill its duty and reveal the parties and individuals behind them and prosecute them as they are likely to be linked to circles of political, financial and judicial corruption.

6. Denounce the silence of the supreme judicial council and reluctance to take back its powers from the executive power, calling on it to shoulder its constitutional and legal responsibilities in guaranteeing independence of the judiciary, particularly during this extraordinary period characterized by the consolidation of all powers in the hands of the president of the republic, and call on the Council to exercise its duty of overseeing sectorial judicial councils so that they play their roles in bringing to account influential judges and preventing their impunity through use of personal, professional and political links.

7. Call for the immediate reversal of arbitrary measures against judges and prevent their repetition using any pretext.

8. Renew their commitment to the principle of accountability and prevention of impunity in relation to the first president of the court of cassation, former public prosecutor and others, without exception, within the judicial institutional framework and in all transparency, neutrality, independence and respect of the rights of defence, within a reasonable time and without political pressures. They call on the civil judicial council to rule on the case of the first president of the court of cassation and take the necessary preventive measure of suspending him and declaring his post vacant so as to guarantee a return to the normal functioning of the court and prevent any interference in, or instrumentalisation of, the judiciary.

1. Mohamed Afif Jaidi, Judge at the court of cassation

2. Leila Ezzine, public prosecutor at the court of appeal of Bizerte

3. Hammadi Rahmani, judge at the court of cassation4. Mohamed Romdhani, public prosecutor at the court of cassation

5. Imen Labidi, judge at the criminal division of the court of first instance of Grombalia

6. Afef Nahhali, public prosecutor at the court of cassation

7. Rachid Mabrouk, deputy to the first president of the court of first instance of Kairouan

8. Imen Ben Chaaben, deputy president of the court of first instance of Mehdia

9. Anissa Trichili, deputy president at the court of first instance of Mannouba

10. Faker Majdoub, third-degree judge at the court of appeal of Kairouan

11. Sondes Bachnaoui, judge at the regional division of the administrative court of Kef

12. Henda Belhaj-Mohamed, public prosecutor at the court of cassation

13. Ali Khelif, deputy president at the court of first instance of Sfax 2

14. Adel Bakkari, first judge of investigation at the court of first instance of Sidi Bouzid

15. Chokri Lahmar, third degree judge at the public prosecutors office at the court of appeal of Bizerte

16. Habib Sayyahi, head of team at the legal and juridical studies center

17. Kaouther Zaiter, judge at the appeal criminal division at the court of appeal of Jendouba

18. Samar Jaidi, judge and researcher at the legal and juridical studies center

19. Abdessettar Ben Ammar, social security judge at the court of first instance of Kairouan

20. Houeida Makdouli, district judge, Tunis

21. Tounes Retibi, deputy president at the court of first instance of Tunis

22. Faten Bousetta, judge at the criminal division of the court of appeal of Bizerte

23. Amel Abbassi, first judge of investigation at the court of first instance of Mannouba

24. Fadhel Ouni, first judge of investigation at the court of first instance of Sidi Bouzid

25. Adel Ben Salem, public prosecutor at the court of cassation

26. Hatem Ben Daoud, Assistant public prosecutor at the court of appeal of Tunis

27. Mongi Chalghoum, head of division at the court of cassation

28. Alaeddin el-Wafi, rapporteur judge at the property court of Nabeul

29. Salem Fitouri, third-degree judge at the court of appeal of Sfax

30. Abdelkader Ghezal, judge at the court of cassation

31. Nejla Nasir, judge at the court of cassation

32. Sami Sahbani, deputy president at the court of first instance of Jendouba

33. Sami Ellouzi, judge at the court of cassation

34. Riadh Ben Halima, assistant public prosecutor at the court of appeal of Jendouba

35. Mohamed Saleh Eljedi, judge at the court of cassation

36. Lotfi Saadaoui, first judge of investigation at the court of first instance of Tozeur

37. Yosr Eljeidi, judge at the court of appeal of Tuni

38. Mohamed Elkhamis Telili, third-degree judge assigned abroad

39. Atallah Jouhri, judge at the court of audits

40. Mohamed Elachibi, third-degree judge at the court of appeal of Sousse

41. Nejib Elgheribi, first judge of investigation at the court of first instance of Sfax 2

42. Nejib Ben Hammouda, third-degree judge at the court of appeal of Beja

43. Fatma Ezzahra Elbedai, judge at the court of first instance of Mehdia

44. Manel Karoui,  judge at the court of first instance of Mehdia

45. Rihab Mhedhbi,  judge at the court of first instance of Zaghouan