Several MPs are being prosecuted by the courts, long before they entered parliament, where they cloaked themselves in immunity in order not to respond to summonses and escape prosecution. Others have taken advantage of this immunity to commit crimes or misdemeanours without the risk of being prosecuted.
But at the announcement, by the President of the Republic Kais Saied, on the evening of Sunday, July 25, of exceptional measures in accordance with Article 80 of the Constitution and including in particular the lifting of parliamentary immunity, the sky fell on the heads of the fugitives before the justice.
The day after the publication of the decree on immunity, two deputies were picked up from their homes by the security forces in execution of an arrest warrant issued by the public prosecutor’s office. This is Yassine Ayari, who was sentenced to two months in prison for insulting the military institution.
He was taken to Mornaguia prison where he is due to spend his sentence. For his part, Faisal Tebbini was arrested and brought before an investigating judge at the Court of First Instance of Jendouba for contempt of court. After his hearing, the judge issued a warrant of committal against him pending his appearance before the Tribunal.
Other MPs, Zouahair Makhlouf and Mohamed Salah Letifi, have been placed under house arrest in their homes pending their follow-up.
They have vanished into the wild
On the other hand, other Members have vanished into the wild and continue to taunt justice behind their keyboards. These include the deputies of al-Karama, who have been charged with several counts. Their president Seifeddine Makhlouf, sentenced to one year and 8 months in prison for contempt of court, is also being prosecuted with four of his accomplices, Abdelaltif Aloui, Nidhal Séoudi, Mehdi Zagrouba and Mohamed Affes, in the tunis carthage airport case, on March 16th. The latter is also being prosecuted with Ayet Allah Hichri and Rached Khiari against the background of a complaint filed against them by the Ministry of Education in February 2020.
Khiari, who had long enjoyed the cover of Rached Ghannouchi, continues to hide, refusing to respond to the summons of the military justice. Moreover, the public prosecutor’s office at the Tunis Court opened an investigation against him in October 2020 for glorifying terrorism, following the beheading of a French teacher. The investigation remained unanswered.
Gafsa MP Lotfi Ali, suspected of involvement in the phosphate case, did not appear with the co-defendants before the public prosecutor’s office and a warrant was issued against him.
The two-speed justice system that has long prevailed in recent years must not continue. No one is above the law before which all citizens are equal. We must put an end to the impunity of the guilty, whatever their rank.
Isn’t justice one of the pillars of democracy?
Translation by Rifi-JDD
