GOT RUSHES CONVICTION TO COINCIDE WITH ICRC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 000896 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/MAG (LAWRENCE),EB/CIP (SHIPMAN) AND DRL/PHD PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2014 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KMPI KJUS KDEM TS ICRC WSIS SUBJECT: GOT RUSHES CONVICTION TO COINCIDE WITH ICRC ANNOUNCEMENT OF AGREEMENT ON PRISON VISITS REF: A. TUNIS 826 ¶B. TUNIS 894 Classified By: Ambassador William J. Hudson for reasons 1.4(b/d). ¶1. (C) Summary: A Tunisian court sentenced dissident lawyer Mohamed Abbou to a prison term of three years and six months following his one-day April 28 trial for two charges. Abbou was arrested in early March for publishing on the website/listserve "Tunisnews" an article attacking President Ben Ali for inviting Israeli President Sharon to attend the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society. Many in the dissident and diplomatic communities claim this is the biggest "political" trial since 2002, and while there were irregularities, the sentence was lighter than expected. There are reports that senior GOT officials ordered the judge to deliver a verdict April 28 "no matter what." End Summary GOT Rushes One-Day Trial of Dissident Lawyer Mohamed Abbou, Sentences Him To Three And A Half Years -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) A Tunisian court sentenced dissident lawyer Mohamed Abbou to a prison term of three years and six months close to midnight following his one-day April 28 trial for two charges. Legal sources told us early in the afternoon of April 28 that the trial judge was under orders from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to conclude the trial that day "no matter what." ¶3. (U) Abbou was arrested in early March for publishing on the website/listserve "Tunisnews" an article attacking President Ben Ali for inviting Israeli President Sharon to attend the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society, which is to be held in Tunis. He was convicted for that and for a subsequent charge of assault and battery on a female Tunisian lawyer that reportedly occurred some time ago. The female victim reportedly suffered a ten percent permanent physical incapacity, although Abbou's defenders said that medical records in the trial had been falsified. Observers cite another article that Abbou wrote, also published on Tunisnews in which Abbou urged readers to not focus on abuses at Abu Ghraib at the expense of abuses in Tunisian prisons. They say the real reason he was arrested was that he crossed several redlines by attacking President Ben Ali personally and so vituperatively over the invitation to Sharon. ¶4. (U) Emboffs have had several interactions with the "Defenders of Abbou," the group of his supporters who have been working to publicize his detention and to secure his release. At Abbou's April 28 trial, which poloff attended, a number of them approached him to thank him for the U.S. Embassy's support. The "Defenders of Abbou" had a translation committee which provided international observers with translation from the trial's Arabic proceedings into French. The pro-Government lawyers also whispered editorial comments into foreigners' ears, and at one point poloff had simultaneous translations from the two sides on each ear. (NB: With a few minor exceptions, the two sides were cordial to each other.) Recap of Trial: A Day At the Justice Palace -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The Abbou trial took place in one of the smallest courtrooms in the Tunisian courts ("Palais de Justice") building. It was one of several trials scheduled to take place in the 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. session. Abbou's trial took place last. The courtroom -- designed to hold around 100 onlookers -- was packed with perhaps 500-600 people. The vast majority appeared to be in the room to attend the Abbou trial. Participants said approximately 90 per cent of those were pro-Abbou with about 10 per cent pro-ruling party. In addition approximately 15 per cent were women, 5 per cent were foreigners, and there were a dozen uniformed police in the court room, which participants said was normal. Abbou's trial started a little after 11:00. When police brought him in, all the Tunisians quickly stood up and started singing their national anthem loudly. (NB: This singing also happened in the 2002 trial of Hamma Hammami and presumably harkens back to the anti-colonial independence movement from the 1950s, in which the legal profession was a major player.) The three judges immediately ran out of courtroom. There was an hour delay as police tried to get the lawyers present to back up and calm down. The GOT brought in a retired chief of the judicial police (apparently highly respected by both sides) to mediate. ¶6. (SBU) Eventually everyone calmed down, and the trial began. Abbou supporters said the judge was known to be pro-ruling party. Early in the process Democratic Progressive Party SYG Nejib Chebbi filed a motion to change the trial to a larger courtroom. The judge responded with respect but declined the request. From there, the level of the trial's civility got worse. Following the French-origin court procedure, no witnesses or evidence were heard. Discussion centered on whether the judge could combine the main charge against Abbou (related to publication of the scurrilous article) with the newer one related to the much older alleged assault. The judge wanted to issue one combined "process verbale" for both charges. Lawyers invoked a number of technicalities to block the judge and the trial was left in limbo. Finally at around 1:30 p.m. the judge adjourned to chambers to deliberate and -- it was said -- call the Ministry of Justice for technical advice on a solution to the defense's technical strategem. Approximately two-thirds of participants staged a sit in (i.e., remained in court room talking). The final verdict reportedly came around midnight. ¶7. (SBU) Overall, the trial had a very energetic, charged atmosphere. Police and court officials were pretty calm and in control except during the crowd's initial outburst. However, they seemed at a loss over how to react to the lawyers' technical motion to block the verdict. Trial Unifies EU ... Sort Of -------------- ¶8. (SBU) A number of international NGO observers attended the trial, including Human Rights Watch and Lawyers Without Borders. In terms of diplomatic representation, poloffs from the French, Swiss, German, Canadian, Belgian, and British embassies also attended. Two representatives of the European Commission also attended. ¶9. (C) EU diplomats said they planned a joint EU demarche on this issue. They described the demarche as unprecedented, since southern European countries have traditionally been reluctant to engage the GOT on human rights issues. The EU presidency currently is held by the Dutch, but that Embassy's Ambassador and DCM/Polcouns are both out of the country. Responsibility was passed to the British, who are next in line for the presidency here. They confirmed the plans, but said that the demarche (urging the GOT to release Abbou) had not been finalized. Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) Abbou's conviction is a disappointment though not a surprise; still, most observers expected a harsher sentence -- he could have gotten more than a dozen years. We expect that he will serve two-thirds of his three and a half years and then receive a conditional pardon from President Ben Ali, as this is the normal practice here. We will report septel further significant information we learn about the EU demarche. We think it interesting that the conviction coincided with the ICRC communique announcing its agreement with the GOT on prison visits. Many others believe this was an intentional effort to balance the human rights image of Tunisia. It is certainly the case that Abbou was arrested and convicted for two reasons more than any others: first, he violated publication red lines by attacking President Ben Ali personally and baldly stating in print the rumors of high-level corruption that everyone here talks about privately; second, his relentless vituperative focus on the invitation to Sharon to attend the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in November compelled the image conscious GOT to want to silence him. We think the chances of his release prior to WSIS are slim to none. HUDSON