The indictment division of the Sousse Court of Appeal decided to refer 41 defendants in the “Instalingo” case to the Sousse 1 Court of First Instance, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Ridha Belhaj Omar.

Among the 41 defendants, 14 individuals are still in detention, he told TAP.

The indictment division of the Sousse Court of Appeal validated the decision to drop the charges against 15 suspects.

The appeal lodged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office against 9 defendants was rejected.

The first investigating judge at the Sousse II Court of First Instance decided on June 18 to close the investigation into the “Instalingo” case.

At the end of a judicial process that swung between delaying tactics and investigative procedures, the judge in charge of the case ruled in favour of completing the investigations carried out in this case.

The verdict was to dismiss the charges against 15 suspects, including a journalist, and to issue warrants for 36 defendants to appear before the indictment division, some at liberty and others in custody.

The spokesman for the court told TAP that the judge’s decision to close the enquiries and investigations into the case means, in fact and in law, the end of the investigation.

End of the investigation, but not of the trial. The public prosecutor’s office had challenged the investigative judgement and was quick to lodge an appeal against the decision to dismiss the charges against 15 suspects.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse