In a scathing press release published this Tuesday, April 22, 2025, the Council of the National Order of Lawyers in Tunisia expressed lively indignation in the face of what it considers many irregularities that have tarnished the very controversial trial called “the affair of the conspiracy against the security of the state”. A trial, which led to heavy convictions pronounced on the night of April 19 by the fifth criminal chamber of the anti -terrorist judicial center.
The Council denounces violations of fundamental rights, pointing in particular the absence of elementary procedural guarantees. The order considers that the principles of an equitable trial – consecrated by the Tunisian Constitution and the international treaties ratified by Tunisia – have been seriously flouted. He underlines in particular the non-observation of the right to defense, non-compliance with the principle of contradictory and the exclusion of defendants of their own hearings.
The Council of the Order also raised against the proceedings committed against lawyer Ahmed Souab, placed in pre-trial detention in the context of an investigation based on anti-terrorism legislation, the telecommunications code and the very controversial decree-law 54.
Through this arrest, the order sees a serious attack on the profession of lawyer and the independent defense exercise. He denounces a manifest will to criminalize the expression of opinions.
In his press release, the order of lawyers does not mince his words: he holds the Ministry of Justice for directly responsible for the alarming degradation of the independence of the judiciary.
Faced with this situation deemed worrying, the national order of lawyers calls for the immediate release of Me Ahmed Souab, placed yesterday in police custody, as well as all professionals – lawyers, journalists, civil society members – detained or prosecuted for having simply exercised their fundamental rights.
The organization insists on the need to respect the presumption of innocence and constitutional guarantees, which constitute the base of all fair justice. She concluded her press release with a solemn call to restore a climate of dialogue and mutual respect, at the service of the country’s best interest.
