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Travel Ban Imposed on Samir Dilou and Other Lawyers After Their Bank Accounts and Assets Were Frozen As Part of a Tax Investigation

March 1, 2026 – The investigating judge in the Economic and Financial Regulations Department issued a travel ban against lawyers Samir Dilou, Ramzi Ben Deyya, and Mohsen Sahbani, following an investigation into suspicions of money laundering by exploiting the privileges afforded by their positions and professional activities. According to the warrant, the funds originated from tax evasion and other tax irregularities, according to the investigations and tax evasion department.
 
The investigating judge also ordered the freezing of the suspects’ assets and bank accounts, pending the completion of the investigation.

Case:

This situation follows a series of similar actions taken in recent years against lawyers specializing in defending political detainees, particularly in cases of “conspiracy against state security.”
 
In February 2023, at least fourteen lawyers were referred for investigation in connection with the same case, including Samir Dilou, Ramzi Ben Deyya, Mohsen Sahbani, Ines Harrath, Saida Akremi, Anwar Ouled Ali, Ridha Belhaj, Mohamed Sami Triki, Malek Ben Ammar, Nasser Harabi, Mounia Bouali, Nizar Toumi, Abdelraouf Abba, and Abdelrazak Kilani. The cases were later expanded to include Islem Hamza, Dalila Ben Mbarek-Msaddek, all based on statements made to the media in connection with the case.
 
The Freedom for Tunisia Observatory believes that the simultaneous opening of tax and financial investigations against lawyers know for their defense of political prisoners, and the ongoing escalation of legal prosecutions of a political nature, raises new questions about the underlying motives behind these measures.

Freedom for Tunisia Observatory’s Position:

The Freedom for Tunisia Observatory believes that the continued targeting of lawyers with partial financial or tax-related prosecutions in a tense political climate is alarming raises fears that the regime is resorting to the use of judiciary as a tool to exert indirect pressure on lawyers due to their professional activities.
 
The Observatory also observes that stringent precautionary measures, such as freezing assets and bank accounts and imposing travel bans, have severe consequences for these lawyers’ professional and personal lives and should only be applied in cases based on strong evidence, thoroughly investigated, and justified.
 
The Observatory emphasizes that targeting lawyers for their professional work or for defending their clients constitutes a fundamental violation of the guarantees of a fair trial, given that the independence of the legal profession is an integral part of the independence of the judiciary itself.
 
The Observatory warns against the danger of establishing a climate where defending political cases becomes fraught with the risk of personal or financial persecution. Such actions would only serve to deter lawyers and undermine the right of litigants to a free and independent defense.
 
The Freedom for Tunisia Observatory calls for:
  • Lifting the precautionary measures taken against lawyers, particularly the freezing of assets and bank accounts and travel bans.
  • Putting an end to all forms of harassment against lawyers due to their professional activities in political cases.
  • Limiting prosecutions to a legal framework based on substantive evidence rather than circumstantial evidence or political agreements.
  • Ceasing the use of tax and financial files as parallel avenues to pressure lawyers or defame them.

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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.