Below are the unofficial translations of some press releases
-
A first statement from Ghassen Ben Khalifa via his Facebook page:
Personal/political/absurd divide:
Regarding
the “moral” part of the ridiculous, fabricated case against me
(accusing me of being a moderator of a “islamist” page called
“Al-Burkan Al-Tunisi”), the court of first instance in Ben Arous
issued a decision against me yesterday: six months in prison (without
immediate implementation).
This
is pending the holding of the first session in the second, more
serious case (related to mild charges such as “participation in a
terrorist alliance,” “committing a brutal act against the
President of the Republic,” etc.) on April 5th.
I
mean, Mr. Judge, he was not convinced by the words of the lawyers who
presented him with copies of the confessions of the gentleman who was
arrested (while I was detained and we were looking at the National
Unit to investigate terrorist crimes in Aouina) and in which he
confirmed that it was his page alone and that he was the one who
published everything on it and that he did not know me at all... In
addition to what is proven (from the archive of my Facebook account)
that on the alleged date and time (according to a technical report
from the Department of Technical Services of the General
Administration of National Security) I contacted the page from an IP
address linked to my phone number. At that time, I was connected from
my account and interacting and posting on My personal page has a
completely different ip address...
In
other words, Mr. Judge treated the security report of questionable
authenticity (and he does not explain at all how he arrived at his
conclusion - knowing that there are soon 30 pages whose owners are
required to be identified. He did not find, Glory be to God, that
page was clever and linked it to me) as a conclusive argument
stronger than a confession. The second defendant is stronger than the
results of the Al-Awaina Division’s research and stronger than the
apparent contradiction of my well-known intellectual and political
convictions with the content of that page...
The
bottom line is that we will appeal this unjust ruling and prepare for
the April session. I assure all comrades and friends that morale is
high. I also reassure everyone who believes that with such ridiculous
charges and fabrications he can harm me, intimidate me, or make an
example of me...
-
Statement from the Tunisian Campaign of Boycott and Opposition to
Normalization with the Zionist Entity
Freedom
for those who oppose normalization... Freedom for our people and
those who are aligned with them!
Yesterday,
03/14/2024, the Court of First Instance in Ben Arous issued a
six-month prison sentence against Comrade Ghassan Ben Khalifa, one of
the founding members of the campaign and the editor-in-chief of the
Inhiyez website, a fighter within the Joint Action Coordination for
Palestine, and a member of the Solidarity Committee with the activist
George Ibrahim Abdullah. Background of the case that was raised
against him after he was suspended in September 2022 for five days.
The
ruling relates to the charge of “insulting others via social media”
that was brought against Ghassan in the “moral” aspect of the
case. This is a charge brought against him based on the allegations
of a report from one of the departments of the Ministry of Interior,
which claimed that the “Tunisian Volcano” page was linked to an
IP address linked to his phone number. This was proven false by the
defense team, based on the archive of his contacts on his personal
page (which prove that at the alleged time of the technical
monitoring process, he was connected to his personal page with a
different IP address), and the confessions of the page moderator who
was suspended before the release of Ghassan bin Khalifa in September
2022, and who He denied knowing the companion or having any
relationship with the aforementioned page, which he confirmed that he
managed alone.
We,
in the Tunisian campaign to boycott and oppose normalization with the
Zionist entity, condemn this unjust ruling against our comrade and
declare our absolute support for him. As we support our comrade, we
stand in solidarity with ourselves and with those belonging to the
underground and those aligned with him.
We
also call on all comrades, male and female, all struggling
individuals and progressive forces to rally around Ghassan’s case
and to put pressure and mobilize before the Court of First Instance
in Tunis on April 5, coinciding with the first session related to the
second part of the case in which he faces fabricated charges such as
“participation in a terrorist arrangement” and “committing "It
is a miserable matter for the President of the Republic."
Arbitrary
rulings will only make us more united and steadfast. Freedom for
those who oppose normalization. Prison for typists.
-
Press release from the Coordination of the joint action for Palestine
in Tunisia:
🔴#statement
Tunisia on March 15, 2024
#Unjust_judgments_will_not_dissuade_us_and_we_steadfast_in_the_option_of_support_resistance_and_anti_normalization
Yesterday, Thursday, March 14, 2024, the Court of First Instance in
Ben Arous issued a six-month prison sentence in a sub-case against
Comrade Ghassan Ben Khalifa, journalist, editor-in-chief of the
Inhaaz website, activist for the Joint Action Coordination for
Palestine, member of the Tunisian campaign to boycott and oppose
normalization with the Zionist entity, and member of the committee.
Tunisian Commitee of Solidarity with the freedom fighter George
Ibrahim Abdullah.
It is important for the Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine to
clarify to public opinion that this ruling was based on a security
report that included the name of the leftist activist Ghassan bin
Khalifa in a case related to the management of a page on the social
networking site Facebook with “Brotherhood” content. The main
accused in it is arrested and admitted that he is the one who owns
and manages the page. He is responsible for all her posts and that he
has no relationship or knowledge with the companion.
The Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, while it considers
that this unjust ruling and everything that is being plotted against
its activist, is against the backdrop of his struggle activity linked
to supporting the option of resistance and against normalization, it
confirms that targeting its activists with fabricated charges will
not discourage it from moving forward with its struggle options, and
that giving the apparatuses free rein. The security lurking among the
activists will only increase their stability.
The coordination also calls on all national, progressive and
revolutionary political organizations and groups and civil society
institutions aligned with the Palestinian right and all Tunisians to
attend in large numbers on April 5, 2024, before the Tunisian Court
of First Instance to support the leftist activist Ghassan Ben Khalifa
in the first session of the original case in which he faces charges
of “participation in an agreement.” Criminal” and “committing
a despicable act against the President of the Republic” and other
fabricated charges.