After independence and before the revolution, Tunisia experienced decades of dictatorship, during which dissident thought was crushed, free speech stifled and political pluralism abolished. The powers that be then took revenge on their opponents and critics through imprisonment, exile, torture and persecution... But we believe that the form of despotism that Tunisia is experiencing today has a disturbing singularity, marked by at least three glaring paradoxes: it combines a primal vengeance against any political or civil action, an economic crisis that continues to worsen day after day, and an official discourse bordering on delirium and delusion, whose main actor is unquestionably a president with a passion for interior monologues, nebulous formulas and heavy-handed clichés, which have today become objects of derision and mockery among Tunisians...
But unfortunately, there's nothing to laugh about in Tunisia today. On the contrary, everything about the current situation calls for sadness and pain: prisons full of prisoners of conscience, political detainees, journalists and bloggers; prison sentences far in excess of the life expectancy of those convicted, handed down almost daily by judges who take orders from those in power - out of fear or servility - especially after seeing what has happened to their colleagues who have listened to their conscience and respected the law: dismissal, disciplinary sanctions, demotion...
The accusation of terrorism is now attached to any form of political opposition, criticism of power or denunciation of injustice. It doesn't matter that the accusations are unfounded, that the evidence is lacking, that criminal law is flouted, that the elementary principles of a fair trial are absent, or that the interference of political power is flagrant. The President of the Republic is both "party and judge", investigator, magistrate and accuser. It is he who hands out the accusations and does not even hide his contempt for those who dare to criticize or plead for political pluralism and the independence of the judiciary. Did he not immediately condemn an entire political elite, accusing them of "conspiracy" and "collusion with foreigners", even before official accusations were made and arrests made? Did he not explicitly threaten the judges, declaring that "those who acquit them are their accomplices"? Who then can still believe, without being naive, in the existence of an independent justice system in a state still governed by the rule of law?
The result: magistrates, subjected to the pressure of the sword brandished by power over their heads, have chosen obedience and submission in large numbers, actively participating in the process of liquidating the law. They compete in handing down harsh sentences to please the executive, even inventing new charges for those whose iniquitous sentences are coming to an end, in order to keep them behind bars and prevent them from upsetting the powers that be with a criticism they won't tolerate or an opinion they reject with childish stubbornness. Even prison administrations are becoming increasingly involved in this authoritarian project, mistreating political prisoners and their families, who endure immense difficulties in visiting them, as they are moved from prison to prison and subjected to constant arbitrary measures.
And for those who ask: why so much vengeance? Why this unbearable hatred, this sickly cruelty? Let them listen to the President's damning speeches, which for the past six years have been nothing but threats, accusations of treason and attacks on state security, against anyone who doesn't share his convictions, orientations or whims. But does he really have any ideas? It's time to open our eyes for those who still pretend not to see?
It's time to open the eyes of those who still pretend not to see: the accusations levelled at all opponents and critics are nothing but a smokescreen designed to conceal the economic and social failure of a country overwhelmed by internal and external debt, where the people have lost all prospect of a dignified life, not only because of the loss of their freedom and dignity, but also because of the high cost of living, galloping inflation, shortages of basic commodities, endemic unemployment and rising poverty rates... Faced with a shadow government and a president who is pushing the country into a crisis from which it will be difficult to emerge.
In the face of this impasse at every level, in a country that once dreamed of freedom and dignity, in the face of the injustice and humiliation suffered by prisoners of conscience, and in the face of an economic and social crisis threatening a collapse with unforeseeable consequences, we firmly believe that we are facing a major historical responsibility, which demands of us - civic activists, politicians, intellectuals - courage, lucidity and wisdom. We must not abandon the prisoners, guilty only of wanting to reclaim a confiscated democracy and defend their rights to freedom, to a dark fate and a slow death. It's also about giving back to the people the revolution that was stolen from them...
Otherwise, our country will sink deeper into the morass of crises, led by a president who listens only to the echo of his own voice.
