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Seifeddine Makhlouf

Released

About

Position/party/association: Coordinator of the Al-karama Coalition Party

Date of birth: August 12, 1975

Profession: Lawyer and MP since 2019

Nationality: Tunisian

Date Targeted

September 17, 2021 – January 21, 2023

Current Status

Released

Charges

Insulting police officers and undermining army morale.

Undermining army morale

Cases and Violations

Case No. 1: “Airport Case”

Incident: An incident occurred at Carthage International Airport in Tunis on March 15, 2021, resulting in a quarrel between airport security personnel, lawyers, and MPs from the Al-Karama Coalition.

Charges: insulting police officers and undermining army morale.

Judicial authority: Military Court

Initial ruling in May 2022 of five months in prison on charges of “undermining the morale of the army.”

  • In June 2022, a military court also sentenced Makhlouf to one year in prison on charges of “undermining army morale” and banned him from practicing law for five years.
  • January 20, 2023: The military court sentenced him at the appeal stage to 14 months in prison with immediate effect on charges of “undermining army morale” according to his lawyer. He was also banned from practicing the legal profession for five years.
  • January 21, 2023: Makhlouf was arrested late at night
  • February 2023: The Tunisian Military Court of Appeal issued a seven-month prison sentence against Makhlouf in a hearing that was boycotted by lawyers.
  • April 27, 2023: He was released after spending eight months in prison.

Violations: Retrying Makhlouf for the same charges is a violation of the principle of double jeopardy rule.

Case No. 2: The “Corridor” case – “assaulting the Assistant Public Prosecutor at the Permanent Military Court in Tunis”

Incident: A dispute broke out between Makhlouf and the Assistant Public Prosecutor at the Permanent Military Court in Tunisia in 2021 after he was prevented from representing his colleague in the same party, Nidal Saoudi during his interrogation in the case related to the quarrel incident at Tunis-Carthage International Airport.

Judicial authority: Military Court

  • The military investigating judge issued a prison detention warrant
  • Appeal: June 17, 2022: The Military Court of Appeal sentenced him to one year’s firm imprisonment and deprived him of practicing the legal profession for five years.

Lawyer Samir Dilou, a member of Makhlouf’s defense team, said in a post on his Facebook account that the ruling issued against his client came “without pleadings and after receiving a request for postponement from the lawyers, provided that a decision would be made after negotiations,” in reference to the court’s failure to hear the Defense.

  • Cassation- The Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation in Tunisia issued, on Friday, March 10, 2023, a “cassation and referral” decision regarding the military appeal ruling, which had sentenced the former MP and lawyer to imprisonment for one year and deprived him of practicing the legal profession for five years.
  • June 13, 2023: The Military Court of Appeal renewed the ruling to imprison Seifeddine Makhlouf for a period of one year and prohibit him from practicing the legal profession for a period of two years instead of five years, as was ruled by the previous appealed ruling.

Case No. 3: The case of the “Qur’anic School in Regueb” is related to “defaming” the Public Prosecutor in Sidi Bouzid.

Incident: After the Public Prosecutor in Sidi Bouzid decided to close a Qur’anic school in Regueb and refer some of its supervisors to the judiciary, Seifeddine Makhlouf published a video recording criticizing the decision. Subsequently a complaint was filed against Makhlouf by the Public Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Sidi Bouzid regarding the video.

Procedures: The case began in late 2019, when it was filed by the former Public Prosecutor in Sidi Bouzid, who accused Makhlouf of insulting others through public communication networks and attributing illegal matters to a public servant. The Tunis Court of First Instance issued a ruling 1 year and 8 months later, and Makhlouf objected to the ruling in absentia.

Appeal: June 10, 2023: The local Court of Appeal ruled to confirm the first ruling and raise the corporal punishment from eight months to one year and eight months in prison.

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Call to Action

Website petition: Freedom for prisoners of conscience and activists in Tunisia!

Tunisia is no longer the Arab exception that inspired the world in 2011 with a heroic revolution that overthrew the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who ruled for nearly 23 years after seizing power on November 7, 1987, in a coup against Habib Bourguiba.

In a similar and perhaps more dangerous move, on the night of July 25, 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied carried out a “constitutional coup” in accordance with his personal interpretation of Article 80 of the 2014 Revolutionary Constitution, announcing that he had taken a set of exceptional measures due to the “imminent danger” that threatens Tunisia without providing any details or reasons.

In accordance with these measures, Saied dismissed the government and the prime minister Hichem Mechichi who was present at the National Security Council that night at the Carthage Palace, and claimed that he had contacted the Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi (leader of the Ennahdha party) to consult with him in accordance with what is stipulated by the constitution, a claim which Ghannouchi denied since the call was general and did not include anything about exceptional measures or any consultation on the matter. The president suspended Parliament and later dissolved it in March 2022.

Not only did Saied seek to bypass his powers and the articles of the Constitution, which he swore to protect before the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, but he went on to dismiss and change the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council after redefining the judiciary it as a “function” rather than an independent authority. He further replaced members of the Supreme Electoral Commission in preparation for the referendum he held in order to vote on a constitution that he wrote himself after dismissing the proposals of the drafting committee he had himself appointed. Then legislative elections were held over two rounds, in which the participation rate did not exceed 8% of the total number of voters, with the Election Commission later announcing that it had reached 11%, which is the lowest participation rate in Tunisia and globally.

On February 11, President Saied’s regime launched a campaign of protests that has not stopped since, against political leaders, media figures, journalists, judges and senior officials and civil servants, for charges of “conspiring against the security of the state and committing an offensive act against the President of the Republic,” in addition to other charges that were referred to the military prosecution, leading one to wonder about the implication of the Tunisian army in the actions taken by Saied.

The arbitrary arrests were marred by several procedural violations amid criticism from prominent international organizations and observatories in the field of human rights. The standards of litigation and detention period and conditions were not respected. Prosecution and harassment sometimes extended to the detainees’ families, and no evidence, and in many cases, no charges against them were presented.

Moreover trade unions and political parties continue to be subjected to constant harassment and restrictions. Saied continues to target all “intermediary bodies” accusing them of “collaboration” or “treason”. Civil society associations have also been subjected to prosecution, arbitrary arrests and deprivation from representation, in a context of of increasing violence in society due to the authorities’ adoption of racist and discriminatory speeches and rhetoric inciting infighting and violating human dignity.

In light of the above, we, the undersigned, demand the following:

Call for the immediate release of all political detainees, immediately and unconditionally. We also urge the Tunisian authorities to recognize the national and the international human rights treaties they have ratified.
Call on the Tunisian authorities to stop dismantling the nascent democracy and put an end to unfair trials and prosecutions against political opponents of the regime and anyone who criticises it.
Call on all activists and observers to join the national movement for restoring democracy and ending authoritarian rule that has taken Tunisia back to despotism, injustice, and violations of rights and freedoms.