Court Case Continues Against Former Presidential Adviser for Remarks Against Military

http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/08/30/court-case-continues-against-former-presidential-adviser-for-remarks-against-military/

Today, Ayoub Massoudi, former adviser to Tunisian interim President Moncef Marzouki, attended his third hearing at the First Instance Military Court of Tunis. The trial concerns critical remarks he made against members of the Tunisian military.

Following previous hearings held on August 17 and August 22, today the presiding judge ruled that the travel ban on Massoudi would not be lifted.

“We renewed our demand to lift the travel ban, and we want the court to transfer our case to a civil court,” Massoudi told Tunisia Live, stating that he stands behind his controversial comments which were the cause of his trial.

Those comments concerned the conduct of Minister of Defense Abdelkarim Zbidi and General Rachid Ammar. He explained that both Zbidi and Ammar were aware of plans to extradite former Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi and did not inform President Marzouki. To Massoudi, this intentional failure to act constitutes treason.

“Both the minister and General Ammar abandoned their responsibilities. If it’s not their job to inform the president, who is the commander in chief, then who should be in charge of informing him?” he said.

Additionally, Massoudi confirmed statements that were leaked to the press, which were allegedly made by General Ammar during his testimony in the previous hearings. In the transcript Ammar claims that he was accused by Massoudi of high treason. However, Massoudi claimed that he accused General Ammar of “state treason” and not “high treason,” on the basis that the president represents the state.

According to Massoudi, his criticism did not violate article 91 of the Military Code, which prohibits forms of expression that intend to cause damage to the institution of the military as a whole.

“My statements on Ettounisiya TV were clear. I exonerated Tunisia’s military forces from such accusations. I only criticized General Ammar and Minister Zbidi,” Massoudi stated. He added that he did not intend to drag the military into a political conflict, and was only exercising his right to express himself freely.

Responding to the accusations levied against him by the prosecution, Massoudi denied that his comments served a political agenda, and stated his conviction that the tripartite coalition government was responsible for pressuring General Ammar to sue him.

Following today’s hearing, Massoudi and his team of lawyers stated that they expect the First Instance Military Court of Tunis to respond to their demands in the coming weeks.