On Monday January 27, 2025, the criminal chamber of the Sousse 1 Court of First Instance handed down its verdict concerning Mr Mehdi Ben Gharbia, a former Tunisian MP, minister and businessman. Detained since October 2021, Mr. Ben Gharbia was sentenced to four years' imprisonment: one year for falsifying documents and three years for tax offences. A fine of 50,000 (€15,000) was also imposed.
This decision, handed down after more than two years of unfounded pre-trial detention, is a flagrant illustration of the alarming collapse of the Tunisian judicial system, now reduced to a tool of political repression at the service of the executive. The case of Mr. Mehdi Ben Gharbia embodies the abuses of an authoritarian power that shamelessly tramples on fundamental rights and undermines the very foundations of the rule of law in Tunisia, marking a worrying drift towards arbitrariness and systemic injustice.
The verdict was immediately denounced by Mr. Ben Gharbia's defense committee, who described the sentence as "political". Maitre Ahmed Souab, a lawyer and former magistrate, said that the decision reflected a desire to align the sentence with the time his client had already spent in detention, i.e. three years and four months. According to him, the original charges of money laundering and embezzlement have been dropped, leaving only minor tax offences which traditionally do not warrant prison sentences in Tunisia.
Maître Souab also criticized the amount of the fine, believing that such a sum was out of line with the scale of Mr. Ben Gharbia's economic activities at the head of a large group of companies generating millions of dinars. "This verdict shows the extent to which this case is being used as a tool for political settlement", he added.
Since his arrest on October 16, 2021, the case of Mr. Mehdi Ben Gharbia has been marked by flagrant judicial irregularities and an increasingly authoritarian political climate. Initially charged with money laundering, misuse of corporate assets and falsification of documents, he was dismissed on the main charges in December 2021. However, the public prosecutor appealed, resulting in an extension of his pre-trial detention.
Several civil society players and international organizations, including Amnesty International and the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), have denounced this arbitrary detention. The smear campaigns waged by media close to the government and the dismissal of the judge who dismissed Mr. Ben Gharbia's case, as part of the purge of magistrates ordered by Kaïs Saïed in 2022, illustrate the politicization of Tunisia's judicial institutions.
Beyond the legal issues, Mr. Ben Gharbia's conditions of detention give cause for concern. Suffering from heart problems, he has had to be hospitalized on several occasions, notably after hunger strikes aimed at denouncing the impossibility of seeing his six-year-old son, of whom he is the sole parent since the death of his wife. During one of his hospital stays, Mr. Ben Gharbia was handcuffed to his bed, in violation of international standards on the rights of detainees. His lawyers described these inhuman conditions as psychological and physical torture.
Mr. Ben Gharbia's case is part of a wider context of regression of civil liberties in Tunisia under the regime of Kaïs Saïed. Since July 25, 2021, the date of the Tunisian president's coup d'état, the concentration of power in his hands has destroyed the independence of the judiciary and the fundamental guarantees of the rule of law. The dissolution of the Conseil Supérieur de la Magistrature, the arbitrary dismissal of 57 magistrates and the politicization of the judiciary bear witness to the systematic instrumentalization of institutions to neutralize political and economic opponents.
Faced with this situation, Mr Ben Gharbia's Defense Committee appeals to the national and international community to :
- Demand the immediate release of Mr. Ben Gharbia, in accordance with international standards guaranteeing in particular the right to a fair trial.
- Put an end to judicial and political persecution.
- Guarantee an independent and impartial judicial environment by bringing procedures into line with international standards.
- Ensure compensation for the moral, physical and professional damage suffered by Mr. Ben Gharbia.
The case of Mehdi Ben Gharbia is a damning illustration of the brutal erosion of individual freedoms and fundamental rights in a context of authoritarian drift and the dismantling of democracy. This verdict of four years' imprisonment is not only an injustice, but a chilling symbol of the disappearance of the rule of law in Tunisia, where arbitrariness and repression have replaced justice and the fundamental principles of a free and fair society.
The international community, human rights organizations and all citizens attached to the values of justice and freedom are called upon to mobilize in support of Mr. Ben Gharbia and to re-establish the foundations of fair justice in Tunisia.
