The trial linked to the assassination of Tunisian engineer Mohamed Zouari, killed by Balles in December 2016, was postponed by the criminal anti -terrorist chamber of the Tunis court of first instance. The case involves 11 accused, all fled to date.
More than eight years after the assassination of Mohamed Zouari, aeronautical engineer and former member of the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades, Tunisian justice is still struggling to shed light on a case that has strongly shaken national and international public opinion.
Friday, July 5, 2025, the criminal chamber specializing in terrorism affairs, under the court of first instance of Tunis, decided to postpone the trial to a later date, following a request made by the defense.
The file relates to 11 accused, all currently on the run. According to the elements of the investigation, on December 15, 2016, Mohamed Zouari was shot in Sfax, in front of his home. A utility vehicle would have deliberately blocked the road to his car before several armed individuals open fire.
The medical-legal report revealed that the victim had been reached by 20 bullets, causing immediate death. An execution planned with meticulousness, which had quickly oriented suspicion towards an operation of international scope.
From the first hours after the drama, looks turned to Mossad, Israeli intelligence services. Mohamed Zouari was known for his work on military drones, especially on behalf of the Hamas movement, to which he was affiliated. The Palestinian movement had also pointed to Israel directly as responsible for the assassination.
In Tunisia, the case had sparked a shock wave. The prosecution had opened an investigation into terrorist crime, while political and civil society votes called for a firm reaction from the authorities to what they qualified as a violation of national sovereignty.
Despite the surveys carried out by the Tunisian security services and the punctual arrest of some suspects in the months that followed, none of the main accused was physically presented to the courts. All remain on the run, some abroad, which considerably slows down the progress of the file.
