Tunisia
Khayam Turki was arrested first, Saturday morning at 6 am.
Several times cited to become prime minister, the fifty-year-old saw a group of plainclothes police arrive at his home.
His house was raided before he was taken away.
“
It is a kidnapping since the prosecution was not aware until 1 p.m. Saturday
, indicates Lazhar Akremi, one of his lawyers.
It was only at 4 p.m. that we were called to tell us that he was in the crime squad.
On the night of Saturday to Sunday, Khayam Turki, from the Ettakatol party (social democratic formation, ally of the Islamist movement Ennahdha between 2011 and 2014), was transferred to the anti-terrorist police.
Various Tunisian media claim that he would be accused of "
conspiracy against state security
.
Monday morning, Lazhar Akremi had still not been made aware of the accusations against his client, but he already had his opinion: "
This follows meetings he held at his home to rally the opposition against the president" .
Kamel Eltaïef, who made his fortune in the construction industry and éminence grise of the autocrat Ben Ali (1987-2011), as well as Abdelhamid Jlassi, former leader of Ennahdha, were arrested the same day.
The wife of the latter mentioned, Sunday morning, a "
kidnapping
" on a local radio.
“
They took him to an unknown destination.
(…) We have no news from him.
My husband is sick, he suffers from cancer.
I hold the responsibility for any degradation of his physical integrity to the Chief Executive and to the power in place.
, said this former deputy of Ennahdha.
“For me, it is a blow of com”
For Elyes Ben Sedrine, legal adviser at Avocats sans frontières, these arrests did not take place according to the rules: "
Even if these people are subject to the anti-terrorist law and do not have access to lawyer for 48 hours, there is a minimum of information to be transmitted to relatives
".
The expert notes that this type of arrests targeting politicians or lawyers is new: “
I had never witnessed this before.
It started in the summer of 2021
(when the Head of State, Kaïs Saïed, froze Parliament, editor's note)
with people who were placed under house arrest outside their homes.
We had no information about them."
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Two magistrates, Béchir Akremi, former public prosecutor, and Taïeb Rached, former first president of the Court of Cassation, were also arrested on Sunday.
The first is accused of having concealed evidence in the investigation into the murders, in 2013, of Chokri Belaïd and Mohamed Brahmi, two leaders of the Tunisian left.
The second is accused of corruption.
“
These two arrests should have taken place much earlier.
These are files that have been dragging on for a long time.
The concomitance with the arrests of Turki, Jlassi and Eltaïef is bizarre.
For me, it's a publicity stunt
,” said an international observer.
A symbol of the corruption of Tunisian justice
These arrests come a year after the dissolution of the Superior Council of the Judiciary by the President of the Republic.
This body, responsible for the career of magistrates and guarantor of the independence of justice, was singled out as a symbol of corruption and the inaction of Tunisian justice.
It was replaced by a temporary Superior Council of the Judiciary, appointed by the President.
But things haven't improved since.
“
The Minister of Justice intervenes directly in the files in progress.
And the president speaks publicly about cases.
There is a certain fear among all the colleagues who make judgments
, ”explains a judge.
I expect more arrests this week
Lazhar Akremi
Friday, on the eve of the arrests, Kaïs Saïed had precisely met his Minister of Justice, Leïa Jaffel.
According to the press release from the presidency, it would have been question, during the interview, of the legal cases which dragged on for years, including that of Chokri Belaïd and Mohamed Brahmi.
For opponents of Kaïs Saïed, the link is clear: the president would have given a list of personalities to be arrested to his minister.
"
I expect more arrests this week
," said Lazhar Akremi.
For the lawyer, it is a question of diverting attention: “
There are shortages, soaring prices.
The life of Tunisians is becoming hellish, so what do we do?
They say it's the traitors' fault and they put them in jail."
