Summary:<\/b><\/p>\n
Hichem Ben Khaled, a former Tunisian judge at the Sfax 2 Court of First Instance and one of the judges covered by Dismissal Decree No. 516 of 2022 dated 1 June 2022, was arrested on 5 February 2026 in La Goulette by plainclothes security officers and taken to the headquarters of the National Guard’s specialized unit for cybercrime in El Aouina, over three posts he published on his personal Facebook page, on the basis of which he was charged under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code. During the arrest, he reported being subjected to violence, which caused him pain in his left hand and shoulder. After the end of the police custody period, the Public Prosecution at the Tunis Court of First Instance issued, on 7 February 2026, committal warrants against him in the three cases, and he was placed in Mornaguia Civil Prison. On 2 March 2026, the misdemeanor chamber of the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced him to two years in prison, at eight months for each post. This sentence was upheld by the Tunis Court of Appeal on 9 April 2026.<\/p>\n
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Personal information:<\/b><\/p>\n
Name:<\/b> Hichem Ben Khaled.
\nNationality:<\/b> Tunisian.
\nGovernorate:<\/b> Tunis.
\nStatus:<\/b> Former judge at the Sfax 2 Court of First Instance, covered by Dismissal Decree No. 516 of 2022.
\nCharges:<\/b> Charges under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code in three cases.
\nSentence:<\/b> Two years in prison, at eight months for each post.<\/p>\n
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Events of the violation:<\/b><\/p>\n
On 5 February 2026, Hichem Ben Khaled was arrested in La Goulette by plainclothes security officers and taken to the headquarters of the National Guard’s specialized unit for cybercrime in El Aouina.<\/p>\n
According to the available information, three separate investigation reports were opened against him under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code, each relating to a post published on his personal Facebook page: the first in November 2025, the second in December 2025, and the third in February 2026, two days before his arrest. According to the available information, the content of the posts included comments about the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, and the Minister of Justice, Leila Jaffel.<\/p>\n
During the arrest, Hichem Ben Khaled reported being subjected to violence, which caused him pain in his left hand and shoulder. A medical requisition was issued to document the injuries he sustained; the public health doctor prescribed him painkillers, and this was recorded in the official report.<\/p>\n
After the expiry of the custody period, set by law at 48 hours, the Public Prosecution at the Tunis Court of First Instance issued, on 7 February 2026, committal warrants against him in connection with the three cases, and he was placed in Mornaguia Civil Prison.<\/p>\n
During his questioning, Hichem Ben Khaled invoked his judicial immunity and refused to sign the hearing records, relying on the decision issued by the First President of the Administrative Court on 9 August 2022 ordering a stay of execution of his dismissal decree. The Ministry of Justice refused to comply with this decision, even though 49 judges covered by the dismissal decree obtained similar stay-of-execution decisions.<\/p>\n
On 16 February 2026, Hichem Ben Khaled appeared in detention before the misdemeanor chamber of the Tunis Court of First Instance in the three cases brought against him. The court rejected his request for release and reserved the cases for the hearing of 2 March 2026.<\/p>\n
On 2 March 2026, the misdemeanor chamber of the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced him to two years in prison under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code, at eight months for each of the three posts. On 9 April 2026, the misdemeanor chamber of the Tunis Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance judgment against him.<\/p>\n
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Human rights violations:<\/b><\/p>\n
The circumstances of Hichem Ben Khaled’s arrest and detention, in particular what he reported regarding his being taken away by plainclothes security officers and subjected to violence during the arrest, raise concerns about respect for the right to liberty, security of person and physical integrity. Article 26 of the 2022 Constitution of the Tunisian Republic protects individual liberty, while Article 35 guarantees a set of safeguards relating to arrest and custody, including that they be limited to the cases defined by law. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights likewise protects the right to liberty and security of person and prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention.<\/p>\n
The allegations that he was subjected to violence during the arrest also raise suspicion of a violation of his right to physical integrity and to protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Article 25 of the 2022 Constitution enshrines the protection of human dignity and the inviolability of the body and prohibits mental and physical torture, and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.<\/p>\n
The prosecution of Hichem Ben Khaled over posts he published on his personal Facebook page raises an issue concerning the right to freedom of expression. Article 37 of the 2022 Constitution protects freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information and publication, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects the right to hold opinions and to express them, including through electronic media. On the other hand, Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code criminalizes intentionally offending others or disturbing their peace through public telecommunications networks, punishable by a custodial sentence of between one and two years and a fine. Accordingly, the mere fact that the prosecution is based on that article is not, in itself, sufficient to establish a violation of freedom of expression; rather, it is necessary to assess the extent to which the elements of the offense apply to the content of the three posts, and whether the interference with freedom of expression is provided for by law, pursues a legitimate aim, and is necessary and proportionate to it.<\/p>\n
The prosecution is also of particular significance in view of Hichem Ben Khaled’s former status as a judge, and of his invoking judicial immunity during his questioning on the basis of the Administrative Court decision of 9 August 2022 ordering a stay of execution of his dismissal decree. Article 121 of the 2022 Constitution provides that a judge may not be removed, suspended from work or dismissed except in the cases defined by law. It also provides that judges enjoy criminal immunity and may not be prosecuted or arrested unless their immunity is lifted, except in the case of being caught in the act of committing an offense, in which case the judge may be arrested and the relevant judicial council informed, which then rules on the request to lift immunity.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, determining whether the constitutional guarantees relating to judicial immunity were respected in the case of Hichem Ben Khaled requires verifying his legal status at the time of arrest, the legal effects of the Administrative Court decision ordering a stay of execution of the dismissal decree, and the procedures taken by the competent authorities regarding immunity before initiating the prosecution and arrest. On the basis of the available information alone, it cannot be stated with certainty that the failure to comply with the Administrative Court decision or the failure to lift immunity occurred unlawfully; however, this issue is an essential element in assessing whether the guarantees afforded to judges were respected.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, his continued detention and his trial in three separate cases over posts published close together in time raise the question of respect for fair trial guarantees, in particular the right of defense, the presumption of innocence, and the right to be tried before an independent and impartial judicial body. Article 124 of the 2022 Constitution guarantees everyone the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, as well as the right of access to justice and the right of defense, while Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects these guarantees. A judicial conviction does not, in itself, constitute a human rights violation; however, assessing whether these guarantees were respected requires examining the judgments, the hearing records, the defense’s requests and all the proceedings that accompanied the three cases.<\/p>\n
This case is also significant from the standpoint of judicial independence, given that the person concerned was a judge covered by the dismissal decree who was then criminally prosecuted in a context in which he had invoked his judicial immunity and the effects of the Administrative Court decision ordering a stay of execution of his dismissal decree. Article 117 of the 2022 Constitution enshrines the independence of the judiciary and provides that the judiciary is an independent function exercised by judges who, in their rulings, are subject to no authority other than the law, while Article 121 establishes specific guarantees that a judge may not be removed, suspended from work or dismissed except in the cases defined by law, as well as the criminal immunity of judges. The available information indicates that on 9 August 2022 the Administrative Court issued decisions staying the execution of a number of judges’ dismissal decisions, with the decisions differing from one case file to another, which makes determining the scope of the decision issued in favor of Hichem Ben Khaled and its legal effects essential to assessing this point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7347,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","free-categories":[148],"state":[],"countries":[],"governorate":[106],"face_violation":[130,136,132],"class_list":["post-7351","freedom-faces","type-freedom-faces","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","free-categories-148","governorate-tn-11","face_violation-expression","face_violation-fair-trial","face_violation-police-violence"],"yoast_head":"\n