The president of the Free Destourian Party, Abir Moussi, requested this Friday the recusal of the president of the criminal chamber of the Tunis Court of Appeal. She considers that the magistrate presents a conflict of interest, because he would be a member of a regional electoral body. The case, brought by the ISIE, was put under advisement pending a decision on this request.
Alleged conflict of interest: the arguments put forward by Moussi
According to Moussi’s defense, the judge in charge of the case appears in the Official Journal as a member of a sectoral electoral body, and has done so since October 31, 2023. For lawyer Nafaa Laribi, this poses a major problem: the ISIE being the complaining party, a magistrate linked to one of its structures cannot rule in complete independence.
The defense claims that the current composition of the court violates the principle of impartiality, which motivates the request for recusal filed today, reports TAP Agency.
The defense committee insists on the incompatibility between the function of the judge and the nature of the case. The legal team believes that the Court of Appeal must absolutely rule on this request in order to guarantee a fair trial.
A sensitive file
On June 12, Moussi was sentenced to two years in prison at first instance for using information systems for the purpose of disseminating false news that undermines public order, as well as for attributing inaccurate facts targeting a public official, in accordance with Decree-Law 54.
The president of the PDL has also been detained since October 3, 2023 in several cases, including two initiated by the ISIE and another linked to the “registry” of the Presidency of the Republic.
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