A working session was held yesterday Thursday, June 24, 2021, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice, which was supervised by the Minister to the Prime Minister in charge of the public service, the Acting Minister of Justice and the government spokeswoman, Hasna ben Slimane, and was attended by a number of members of the Office of the Legislative Permanent Committee for Regulating Administration and Affairs of the Arms-Carrying Forces, Mrs. Emna Hmaied (reporter), Yamina Al-Zoghlami, and members of the Office of the Special Committee for Security and Defense. Noureddine Al-Arbawi (Chairman of the Committee), Maher Zaid (Vice-Chairman) and Nabil Hajji (reporter).
The session was also attended by the Chief of the Cabinet of the Lady Minister of Justice and a number of senior officials from the two ministries: Justice and the Interior.
The working session comes within the framework of the government’s interaction with the concerns of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People on a number of issues and files related to the security issue, and it receives the attention of public opinion, especially those related to the recent events in the area of Sidi Hassin on the one hand, and what is being circulated regarding the existence of plans to target state symbols, on the other hand.
During the session, the deputies raised several points, including:
– The necessity of revealing the truth about some issues and informing the public about everything new concerning the events witnessed in the Sidi Hassine Sejoumi region, as well as what has been circulated regarding some topics that receive special follow-up by the general public, as is the case with the incident of the poisoned envelopes or that of placing a suspicious substance in the dough of bread in one of the bakeries in the Lake District, or an assassination attempt on the President of the Republic.
– The necessity of holding the wrongdoers and transgressors responsible, and punishing all those who deliberately violate human rights and disrespect the law, regardless of the agency to which they belong.
– The official media interaction with the events of Sidi Hassine and the need to further develop methods and mechanisms for communicating with public opinion in some issues that enjoy wide follow-up from it, emphasizing that these issues should have priority in completing research and investigations and informing the public of all that has been reached.
– The truth about the reluctance of the security agents involved in the investigations in the two Sejoumi incidents to appear before the research agency.
– Condemning all attacks and violence from any party, accelerating the development of security work mechanisms and developing methods for dealing with protesters in a way that embodies the dedication of human rights principles and a break with the past, as well as further work to improve the relationship between the citizen and the agencies charged with protecting security and strengthening the level of trust between the two parties.
– The truth about the harassment of those who filmed the videos that documented the events of Sidi Hassine.
In her interaction with the deputies’ observations and inquiries, government spokeswoman Hasna ben Slimane clarified that the various incidents covered by the proposal, represented in the death of a young man and the arrest of a child in the Sidi Hassine area, and what was circulated regarding targeting state symbols according to the incident of the poisoned envelope and the planting of a suspicious substance in bread dough as well as concerning what was raised on June 15, 2021 regarding the attempt to assassinate the President of the Republic, all of which were followed up by the Public Prosecution and the judicial authorities, and judicial investigations have been opened in this regard since its occurrence.
The anti-crime squad of the National Guard in Ben Arous were entrusted to investigate the two incidents that occurred in the area of Sidi Hassine, and the Sub-Directorate for Criminal Cases regarding what was raised about the planting of a suspicious substance with bread dough and the poisoned envelope, while the judicial pole was entrusted with the fight against terrorism with the issue of authorizing the attempted assassination of the President.
BenSlimane added, regarding the findings of the investigations into the aforementioned incidents, that research has been concluded in the incident related to the insertion of a suspicious substance in bread dough, in which a decision was issued to preserve for insufficient argument, while the results of the technical tests conducted on the poisoned envelope were negative and the inductions regarding this are still pending and the file is continuous.
With regard to the case of the attempted assassination of the President of the Republic, Hasna Ben Slimane stated that, in implementation of the provisions of Chapter 23 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, she authorized the General Prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Tunis to conduct the necessary research and investigations on this subject and to carry out the necessary follow-ups in the light of what the investigations prove, indicating on June 17, 2021, it was decided to open an investigation at the Judicial Pole for Combating Terrorism.
With regard to the two incidents of Sidi Hassine, the official government spokeswoman stated that research and investigations are still ongoing in both incidents, with close judicial monitoring and follow-up to the research that was entrusted to a division of the National Guard in Ben Arous to distance it from any influences of any kind.
The Acting Minister of Justice added that, since the incident of arresting the child in Sidi Hassine Sejoumi took place, and within the framework of the powers entrusted to her by law, she has written to the general prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Tunis, to emphasize the need for good application of legal procedures and supervision of the work of the judicial police in the context of consolidating the principle of equality between female and male citizens in the application of the law, which requires both dealing strictly with any violation of human rights, recommending the necessity of applying the law against anyone who is proven to have any violation of the law or violation of human rights and the physical integrity of persons.
The Acting Minister of Justice reiterated her continuous follow-up to the progress of the research, and the minister also indicated that research work is still ongoing and that more than fifteen security agents have been heard, and technical verification processes are being conducted to determine the identity of the agent suspected of committing the transgression, as revealed by judicial investigations.
The Acting Minister of Justice added that the “family judge” of the Tunis Court of First Instance 2 pledged the child’s file as being in a threat situation, and an extraordinary session was held on June 12, 2021, in the presence of the representative of the Child Protection and the child’s parents, and in coordination with the Child Justice Support Office.
