Tunisian trial of alleged ‘plot’ against the state decried as travesty of justice
On Tuesday morning, the trial of 40 people accused in the so-called "plot against the internal and external security of the state" and "membership in a terrorist group" case opened in Tunis.
The lawsuit is extraordinary in its scale and the identity of the accused, many of whom are seasoned and prominent activists.
According to the prosecution, they allegedly sought to "bring down" the Tunisian state and the current administration of President Kais Saied "by force with the help of foreign states". A number of defendants are accused of having had suspicious contact with foreign diplomats.
Half of them risk the death penalty on the grounds of having sought to "change the form of government [and] incite people to arm themselves against each other", according to article 72 of the Tunisian penal code.
Many human rights organisations have called the case political, aimed at suppressing the opposition.
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Since Saied's power grab on 25 July 2021, when he froze parliament and started dismantling the democratic advances made after the 2011 revolution that launched the Arab Spring throughout the region, rights defenders and opponents have denounced the regression of freedoms in the country.
Among the many conspiracies invoked by Saied during his term, the "plot against the state" occupies a central place.
Beyond the verdict, which could be delivered in several months or in an expeditious manner, it is the very legitimacy of his political actions that are at stake in this trial, since he based them on the alleged existence of forces acting against the interests of the state and to cause the failure of his "redemptive" work.
The case began on 11 February 2023 with the arrests of Khayam Turki, who founded the think tank Al Joussour after a brief mandate as finance minister in December 2011; Kamel Eltaief, a businessman known for his links with former autocrat Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali; and Abdelhamid Jelassi, former vice president of opposition party Ennahda, who had distanced himself from the party and whose main activity was to comment on current events and denounce Saied's authoritarian drift online.
Two days later, Noureddine Boutar, director of Mosaique FM radio station, was also arrested, along with Lazhar Akremi, former minister of reform at the interior ministry in 2011 and one of the founders of Nidaa Tounes, the party of former president Beji Caid Essebsi.
During a night visit to the ministry of the interior on that day, Saied described the arrested people as "terrorists" involved in "a plot against the internal and external security of the state".
"History has proven that they were criminals long before the courts did so," the president said.
Two weeks later, other opponents were arrested.
They were Issam Chebbi, a member of the Salvation Front coalition created to challenge Saied's rule; Chaima Aissa, a feminist activist; Ghazi Chaouachi, a member of the Democratic Current party; Ridha Belhaj, a member of Nidaa Tounes; and Jawher Ben Mbarek, an independent figure within the Salvation Front who had voiced strong criticism of the president.
The list of people accused of "conspiracy" increased to 52, but 12 of them have since been exonerated. Boutar, Akremi and Aissa have been released, but remain inculpated.
French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy, described as the "godfather of coups d'etat in the world" by the inquiry report, and whom Eltaief is said to have met on several occasions, is ranked 40th in the list of "conspirators".
'Nip in the bud' all political opposition
"Turki was the swivel pin of a rapprochement between the political forces that have contested the legitimacy of Saied's power since his coup d'etat of 25 July 2021," one of the defendants told Middle East Eye, on condition of anonymity.
"The launch of a national platform for the rebuilding of democracy was about to be announced. The February 2023 raid was therefore certainly intended to nip this initiative in the bud," the source, who is currently residing in France, added.
At the time of the first arrests, the file only consisted of a letter by the director of the judicial police to Justice Minister Leila Jaffel, which contained a single sentence: "Information has reached us that a number of people are plotting against the internal and external security of the state".
'[The case] was only intended to sully the political initiative and make activists appear as conspiracy theorists whereas they intended to act through constitutional means to remove Saied from power and restore a democratic process'
- One of the defendants
Two testimonies, given "spontaneously" to the police on 16 and 18 February, according to the inquiry report, supported this "information". They were anonymised under the letters XX and XXX.
According to these witnesses, Eltaief was the central element of a group meeting in Europe with a view to overthrowing Saied.
The businessman was allegedly in contact with an arms trafficker, Rafik Chaabouni, to gather weapons for a coup d'etat. A "smuggling expert", Ali Halioui, was allegedly tasked with sneaking the arms in Tunisia.
Meanwhile, Noureddine Bhriri, former justice minister and one of Ennahda's historical leaders, was allegedly tasked with mobilising "sleeper cells if violence had to be used to execute the putschist plan," according to the prosecution.
In addition, Eltaief allegedly organised and funded a media campaign against the president, while people like Akremi and Belhaj allegedly ensured coordination with the group led by Turki.
No evidence has been provided to support the allegations and no proper investigation into the testimonies has been carried out to verify them.
At least one of the witnesses, XX, is said to have served time in prison, from where he allegedly learned of Eltaief's secret actions.
As for witness XXX, he quotes a friend living in Belgium who allegedly told him about a "rumour spread within the Tunisian community in Europe" about the preparation of a coup, and who was told by a friend living in the UK about secret meetings held at the Tunisian embassy in Brussels, without the ambassador's knowledge.
The entire theory of the alleged putsch is based on these shaky testimonies and the biased reading of the discussions between the accused, some of whom were not even involved in the opposition's work.
"In reality, involving Eltaief, inventing this story of arms trafficking and linking it to the approach led by Turki was only intended to sully the political initiative and make activists appear as conspiracy theorists whereas they intended to act through constitutional means to remove Saied from power and restore a democratic process," the source told MEE.
Contacts with French, German, Italian, Spanish and EU diplomats as well as steps taken to have European states officially denounce Saied's authoritarian drift were used as evidence of intelligence with foreign powers with the aim of overthrowing the president.
That was especially the case of the meetings organised at Turki's home between the US embassy political advisor, Heather Kalmbach, and various political forces.
'Mockery of a trial'
During the preliminary inquiry, the accused, who have been imprisoned for more than two years now, did not have the opportunity to give their version of events.
"Since their arrest, they have only met the investigating judge once, and all our requests for a confrontation have been refused," lawyer Dalila Mbarek Msadek, a member of the defence committee and Mbarek's sister, said this week.
The court's decision to have eight defendants appear remotely from prison has angered lawyers. The other accused have not been summoned.
'The minimum conditions for a fair trial have not been met'
- Samir Dilou, lawyer
"The minimum conditions for a fair trial have not been met," Samir Dilou, another lawyer, said at the end of the hearing.
"The rights of the defence are guaranteed by respecting forms and procedure. One of the essential criteria for a fair trial is adversarial confrontation. In this trial, it is impossible," said another attorney, Ahmed Souab.
"We have reached an agreement with the defence committee not to discuss the essence of the case until we have obtained that the defendants be present at the hearing," he added.
An appeal was filed to lift this measure but no decision has been taken by the court yet.
The pleadings on Tuesday focused on this point, in a courtroom packed with supporters of the accused who chanted slogans such as "Freedom, Freedom! No to a justice system that follows orders!"
The defendants refused to appear so as not to endorse proceedings that they consider biased. In the courtroom, lawyer and activist Ayachi Hammami, one of the accused, told the judge that he "refuses to participate in this mockery".
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch urged the Tunisian authorities to "immediately" release all those "arbitrarily detained" in this case and "put an end to this mockery of a trial".
Last month, the UN high commissioner for human rights also denounced the "persecution of opponents" in Tunisia, saying that many of them were "subject to vague accusations".
Other opponents and political figures have recently been sentenced to long prison terms, including Rached Ghannouchi, leader of Ennahda and former speaker of parliament, who was sentenced to 22 years for "endangering state security".
Tuesday's hearing ended with the trial being postponed until 11 April.
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