TUNIS – In what appears to be an invitation to the judicial authorities and the Ministry of Justice to carry out its duty to protect national security, Tunisian President Qais Said said on Thursday that “those who have been on the state and its institutions should not remain outside the criminal prosecution.”
President Said, Minister of Justice, Laila Jafal, received in the Carthage Palace in the capital, Tunisia, to discuss “a number of topics that concern the normal functioning of the public facility of the judiciary,” according to a statement from the presidency.
“The President of the Republic reiterated again his constant desire to ensure the independence of the judiciary and open all files without exception and without delay,” read the statement.
“The abuse of the state and its institutions, he continued, “should not remain outside the purview of criminal prosecution, and employment abroad does not confer immunity to these clients and the recruited.”
The statement quoted Sa’id as saying that “the procedures before the courts were put to ensure the rights of the litigants and were not placed to benefit from this or that party, especially since many files were opened years ago and did not decide on.
“The Public Prosecution, he noted, “must raise the charges on its own as soon as it is aware of any act that is criminalised by the law and does not need any judgement to play its function.
The statements of the Tunisian president coincide, while the protests of the people of Gerges (southeast) continues to “the state’s rapid interaction with 18 young men from the city in the operation of irregular migration in addition to protests related to the high prices that many considered to be politicized.
The son of a political party leader was placed under inspection last week after the Ministry of Interior claimed that it had been able to detain persons, including a former presidential contender, due to the encouragement of riots in Tunisia and the threat to national security.
Last June, Saeed issued a presidential order to exempt 57 judges from their duties, against the backdrop of charges that were directed between them “changing the course of cases” and “disrupting investigations” in terrorism files and committing “financial and moral corruption”, but the administrative court stopped the decision in August the majority of the judges who were exempted in August of last year.
According to observers, Tunisia’s court is in a real pickle since opponents of the country’s previous political order have claimed that certain judges are being intimidated by the Renaissance movement.
The movement’s leader and former minister of justice Nur al-Din Al-Behairi has come under fire from opponents for allegedly exerting control over the judiciary. Al-Behairi, however, has refuted these allegations and says that the accusations are a result of political strife and the closing of political accounts with the movement.
Despite this denial, several judges were accused of engaging in illegal wealth accumulation, corruption, or concealing terrorism-related records.
Qais Said urges a legal struggle with the state’s protracted policies.
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