The Comité pour le respect des libertés et des droits de l'homme en Tunisie (CRLDHT) expresses its deep indignation and full solidarity with Mr. Samir Bettaieb, former Minister of Agriculture and university lecturer, who is being prosecuted in a politico-judicial case that clearly illustrates the authoritarian drift and the instrumentalization of justice for the purpose of settling scores.
In Tunisia today, any attempt to understand the logic of cause and effect in the decisions of judicial police officers, examining magistrates, indictment chambers or courts is absurd. Justice no longer obeys the law, but a political order. When the entire judicial apparatus bows to the injunctions of power and becomes the docile executor of the narrative imposed by the regime, it no longer dispenses justice - it murders it.
Since he was taken into custody in November 2024, alongside his former chief of staff, in connection with the so-called Henchir Chaâl farm affair, Samir Bettaieb has been subjected to a campaign of persecution orchestrated around vague and unfounded accusations.
The investigation, initiated by the Pôle Judiciaire Economique et Financier, follows a complaint lodged by a regional police officer, in the wake of a visit by President Kaïs Saïed to the farm site, during which accusations of corruption were made against the farm's managers.
Before the examining magistrate, Mr. Bettaieb is accused of a simple observation note formulated in 2019 to the CEO of the Office des terres domaniales (OTD) - an autonomous public establishment - relating to the debt collection policy for the 2017/2018 olive season. This note, in line with the political supervision mission and the economic situation at the time, did not relate to any particular case, but to an overall orientation formulated after consultation with the office's executives.
Despite these clear explanations, the public prosecutor and the examining magistrate opted for a repressive escalation:
- money laundering as part of a criminal conspiracy,
- administrative facilities,
- damage to public property,
- forgery and use of forgeries,
- and even offences under anti-terrorism legislation.
However, as many legal experts and observers have pointed out, all the decisions referred to are neither de jure nor de facto within the Minister's prerogatives.
Lawyer Saïda Garrache denounced an empty file: "Samir Bettaieb did not obtain any personal advantage, nor did he squander any public funds. The contract in question was concluded before he took up his ministerial post, and the subsequent acts are part of day-to-day management."
Despite this, the public prosecutor's office appealed against his provisional release, demonstrating the political will to maintain judicial pressure.
The CRLDHT
- Firmly condemns the instrumentalization of justice against Samir Bettaieb, the victim of a legally baseless attack;
- Calls for the immediate cessation of proceedings, the dropping of all unfounded charges and the restoration of his full and complete freedom;
- Recalls that the abusive use of anti-terrorist legislation against civilians constitutes a serious violation of the rule of law;
- Denounces the climate of intimidation, defamation and persecution that afflicts any independent voice in the country.
Paris, May 29, 2025
