Tunisia-Saied: Files incriminating terrorists have been in courts’ drawers for years

“Several files incriminating terrorists and other people” have remained for years in the drawers and despite the overwhelming evidence of their involvement “the suspects, still at large, are not arrested,” President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed said at a Cabinet meeting Thursday.

Criticising the recent arrest of a delegate for a phone call, which, he said, did not require imprisonment, President Saïed wondered whether this delegate really constituted “a threat to public order to be arrested”.

This situation must change, said the head of state, who called on judges to respect rights and freedoms.

“We are in favour of fair justice (…) we need courts that deliver justice with respect for rights and not a court for settling accounts,” he said.

On the other hand, President Saied addressed those who “raise the issue of freedoms in Tunisia” and pretend not to see the defamations on social media, the suspicious funds and the supplements of foreign intelligence services.

No one is above the law and no one enjoys lifelong immunity simply because they have held a state position, he stressed.

(tap)