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Rached Khiari

Arbitrarily detained

Card Contents

About

Position/Affiliation
MP in the 2019 Parliament and a former member of the Dignity Coalition

Date of birth
April 3, 1983

Profession
Investigative journalist

Nationality
Tunisian

Lawyers
Mokhtar Al-Jemai

Date Targeted

August 3, 2022

Current Status

Arbitrarily detained

Charges

Charges: “Any act that may weaken in the army the spirit of the military discipline, obedience to superiors or the respect due to them, and criticizing the actions of the General Command or those responsible for the actions of the army in a way that harms their dignity” and “Intentionally participating in an act aimed at destroying the morale of the army or the nation with the intention of harming national defense.” “Conspiracy against the internal security of the state is intended to change the state’s structure or to force the population to attack each other with weapons and to establish communications with agents of a foreign state, the purpose of which is to harm the state of Tunisia from a military standpoint.”

Cases and Violations

He has six cases and multiple charges against him

First case
 The case relates to his contesting of the transparency of the campaign of President Kais Saied in the 2019 presidential elections, as he accused him of receiving money from suspicious sources.

Judicial Authority
Military Court

Case details

  • In April 2021, Khiari published a video clip on his Facebook page in which he accused the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, of receiving external support and funding to enhance his chances of winning the 2019 presidential elections. Khiari affirmed that he was in possession of documents, photos, and audio video recordings proving that the president had received huge amounts of funding, estimated at about 5 million dollars.
  • The Public Prosecution opened an investigation into the accusations made by the MP. Khiari announced that the military judiciary, in return, had opened an investigation against him, after his accusations against Saied, indicating that the latter is the administrative head of the military court. Khiari said that he did not personally  appear before the military judiciary, but that six lawyers did so.
  • In April 2021, the first investigating judge at the Permanent Military Court of First Instance issued a subpoena against Al-Khayari, who maintained his parliamentary immunity and refused to be tried by the military. But after July 25, 2021, Kais Saied announced the decision to lift the immunity of all MPs after suspending Parliament.
  • July 28, 2021: Security men raided Rached Khiari’s home and the homes of a number of his relatives with the aim of arresting him, according to what his Facebook page reported, but he was not present
  • August 3, 2022: Lawyer Mokhtar Al-Jemai announced in a post on his Facebook page the arrest of dissolved parliament member Rached Khiari.
  • October 10, 2022: The Sixth section of the Court of First Instance in Tunis sentenced Khiari to 8 months in prison on charges of “insulting others via social media networks.”
  • November 24, 2022: Khiari was referred, in a state of detention, before the Criminal Chamber of the Military Court of Appeal.
  • January 17, 2023: The Criminal Chamber of the Permanent Military Court of First Instance in Tunis decided to abandon Khiari’s case for lack of jurisdiction. However, according to his lawyer, Al-Jemai, Khiari was unable to leave prison due to the Military Public Prosecution’s appeal of the ruling. Khiari remained in detention until the Military Court of Appeal took over the case  file.
  • March 2, 2023: The Criminal Chamber of the Military Court of Appeal ruled to imprison Khiari for a period of 6 months in the case, after overturning the initial ruling stating that the military judiciary did not have jurisdiction to consider the case.

It is worth noting that a woman who was arrested with Khiari in one of the Laouina cafes north of the capital was imprisoned and accused of hiding a person fleeing justice. The aforementioned woman appeared before the ward circuit panel, denied the charge, and the Tunis Court of First Instance ruled on Thursday, August 11, 2022, to close the case against the woman.

Violations he was subjected to

  • Being tried by a military court
  • Being arbitrarily detained
  • Serving a prison sentence without legal justification
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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.