Lotfi Mraihi

Summary

Lotfi Mraihi, Secretary-General of the Republican People's Union party, faces a series of judicial prosecutions that began over media statements he made in late 2022 and then expanded, after he announced his intention to run in the 2024 presidential election, to include cases concerning electoral and financial offences. He has received prison sentences in the case relating to Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 of 2022 and in the case relating to endorsements, which, according to the information received, also resulted in a lifetime ban on standing for election. He was also sentenced at first instance to six years in prison in a case concerning money laundering, banking and financial offences and dealings between a resident and a non-resident; this ruling remained under appeal as of the date of this documentation. According to the documented facts, these prosecutions raise human rights concerns relating to freedom of expression, the right to political participation, fair trial guarantees, personal liberty and continued pre-trial detention.

Personal Information

• Name: Lotfi Mraihi
• Age: 67
• Status: Tunisian politician, writer and physician; Secretary-General of the Republican People's Union party
• Nationality: Tunisian
• Governorate: Tunis

Charges

• Using information and communication networks and systems to produce, promote, publish, send or prepare false news, data or rumours, or fabricated or forged documents or documents falsely attributed to others, with the aim of infringing the rights of others, harming public security or national defence, or spreading terror among the population, under Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 of 2022. This article punishes these acts with five years' imprisonment and a fine of fifty thousand dinars.
• Forming a conspiracy to launder money, smuggling assets abroad, and dealings between a resident and a non-resident, under Articles 92, 93, 94, 95, 96 and 97 of Organic Law No. 26 of 2015 of 7 August 2015 on combating terrorism and preventing money laundering, and Articles 1, 16, 22, 35, 36 and 37 of Law No. 18 of 1976 of 21 January 1976 revising and codifying the legislation on foreign exchange and foreign trade governing relations between Tunisia and foreign countries.
• Giving cash gifts to influence voters, under Article 161 (new) of Organic Law No. 16 of 2014 on elections and referendums, as amended by Decree-Law No. 55 of 2022. Article 161 (new) provides for custodial sentences and fines for offering cash or in-kind gifts with the aim of influencing voters, with additional consequences for certain electoral rights under the conditions it sets out.

Incidents of Violation

Lotfi Mraihi is a pulmonologist and the Secretary-General of the Republican People's Union party. He previously ran in the 2019 presidential election and announced his intention to run in the 2024 presidential election.

According to the information received, the first prosecution against him dates back to November 2022, following media statements on public affairs and the political situation in Tunisia that included criticism of the President's performance. This led to his referral to the judiciary on a charge of spreading news deemed false.

On 22 January 2024, the Tunis Court of First Instance issued a first-instance ruling sentencing him to six months in prison, suspended, in the case relating to Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 of 2022.

On 2 April 2024, Lotfi Mraihi announced his intention to run in the 2024 presidential election. Following this, the Sub-Directorate for Economic and Financial Investigations, on the authorisation of the Public Prosecution, opened investigations that later covered several files and also targeted members of his family and a number of party members, according to his lawyer.

On 1 July 2024, the Public Prosecution authorised the opening of a judicial investigation against him and against the party's general secretary (katiba amma), Leila Guellal, on suspicion of money laundering and financial and foreign-exchange offences.

On the night of 3 July 2024, Lotfi Mraihi was arrested on the basis of a search warrant, before being referred to the judiciary in the investigation opened into financial and electoral offences.

On 5 July 2024, the investigating judge issued two committal warrants against him: the first in the case concerning money laundering and financial offences, and the second in the case concerning suspected forgery of endorsements and giving cash gifts to influence voters. He has remained in pre-trial detention since that date.

On 18 July 2024, the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced him to eight months in prison, with a lifetime ban on standing for election, in the endorsements case. On 27 September 2024, the Court of Appeal reduced the prison sentence to six months while upholding the ban on candidacy, according to the information received.

On 22 November 2024, the Court of Appeal also sentenced him to six months in prison, without suspension, in the case relating to Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 of 2022.

Although both prison sentences handed down in these two cases have been served, he remained in detention in the money-laundering case, and his pre-trial detention was extended in February 2025.

On 10 April 2026, the Criminal Chamber of the Tunis Court of First Instance issued a first-instance ruling sentencing him to six years in prison for offences relating to money laundering, banking and financial offences and dealings between a resident and a non-resident. The ruling was appealed, and no hearing had been scheduled to examine the appeal as of the date of this documentation.

Throughout his continued detention, his wife stated that she had submitted requests for herself, and for his elderly mother, to be allowed direct (in-person) visits, but these requests had not been granted as of the date of this documentation.

Human Rights Violations

The documented facts in the case of Lotfi Mraihi reveal a number of human rights concerns relating to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to political participation, the right to liberty and security of person, fair trial guarantees, and the rights of persons deprived of their liberty to maintain family ties.

With regard to the prosecution that began over media statements made by Lotfi Mraihi in 2022, which ended with an appeal ruling sentencing him to six months in prison under Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 of 2022, the documented facts raise a concern regarding respect for the right to freedom of opinion and expression, particularly since, according to the available information, the statements addressed public affairs and the political situation in Tunisia and included criticism of the President's performance. Article 37 of the 2022 Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia guarantees freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information and publication, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for everyone's right to hold opinions without interference and to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds. International human rights law requires that restrictions on the exercise of this right be provided by law, pursue a legitimate aim, and be necessary and proportionate to it. In this context, the referral and trial of Lotfi Mraihi under Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 of 2022 over political statements on public affairs and the President's performance raise questions about whether the application of this text is consistent with constitutional and international guarantees of freedom of expression, especially in light of the broad wording of some of the criminalised acts and the custodial penalties it prescribes. The case also raises the question of the appropriateness of the legal framework applied in relation to Decree-Law No. 115 of 2011 on freedom of the press, printing and publication, given that the statements in question were made in a media appearance.

The prosecutions linked to the 2024 presidential election, for their part, raise concerns regarding the right to participate in public life and the right to stand for election, given that, according to the documented information, the judicial investigations coincided with Lotfi Mraihi's announcement of his intention to run for president, and that one of the cases ended, according to the information received, with a ruling imposing a lifetime ban on standing for election. Article 39 of the 2022 Constitution guarantees the right to vote, to cast ballots and to stand for election as regulated by law, and Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for every citizen's right to take part in the conduct of public affairs and to vote and be elected at genuine periodic elections, without unreasonable restrictions. International standards require that restrictions on the exercise of political rights be based on objective criteria and be justified and proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued. Accordingly, the penalty consisting, according to the documented facts, of a lifetime ban on candidacy raises a proportionality concern, given its permanent nature and its impact on the exercise of a fundamental political right.

The facts concerning Lotfi Mraihi's continued detention since 5 July 2024 and the extension of his pre-trial detention in February 2025, despite the expiry of the two prison sentences handed down in the endorsements case and the Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 of 2022 case, also raise issues relating to the right to liberty and security of person and fair trial guarantees. Article 35 of the 2022 Constitution guarantees the right to liberty and security of person and sets out the conditions for arrest and police custody, while Article 33 enshrines the presumption of innocence and guarantees the accused the right to a fair trial with all the guarantees of defence. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for the right to liberty and security of person and prohibits arbitrary deprivation of liberty, while Article 14 guarantees the right to a fair trial before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal. Given his continued detention in the case concerning financial offences, the length and continuation of his pre-trial detention raise issues concerning the necessity and proportionality of the measure and respect for the presumption of innocence and fair trial guarantees. Following the first-instance ruling of six years' imprisonment on 10 April 2026 and the appeal against it, the judicial situation remains under follow-up until a final decision is issued, according to the information available as of the date of this documentation.

The facts concerning the failure to grant requests for Lotfi Mraihi's wife and elderly mother to visit him in person also raise the issue of respect for the rights of persons deprived of their liberty to maintain family ties. Article 36 of the 2022 Constitution guarantees prisoners the right to treatment that preserves their human dignity, and Rule 58 of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, provides that persons deprived of their liberty shall be allowed to communicate with their family and friends at regular intervals, including by receiving visits, subject to the restrictions required by security and order. On the basis of the documented facts, the failure to grant the requests for direct visits submitted by his wife and mother raises a concern regarding respect for the right to maintain family ties during deprivation of liberty.

The case thus reveals a set of concerns relating to the use of punitive legislation against political expression, the proportionality of restrictions and penalties affecting political rights, guarantees of personal liberty and fair trial, and respect for the family ties of persons deprived of their liberty, all of which must be assessed in light of the Tunisian Constitution and the State's international human rights obligations.