Until when ?

Salem, a 56-year-old civil servant of the Ministry of Justice, went to a public establishment for an administrative procedure. He got into an argument with the security guard, who called the police. As Salem was leaving, a police officer, Mondher, who had just arrived, stopped him and reproached him for not having stopped immediately when he called for him. Salem replied that, as the officer was in civilian clothes, his status as a policeman was not obvious. The officer became angry and called out to colleagues via walkie-talkie, saying "send me a patrol before I commit a crime!".

When the police patrol arrived, Salem tried to explain the situation but Mondher handcuffed him and forced him into the police car where he beat him on various parts of his body until they arrived at the local police station.

Once at the station, Mondher led Salem into a room and punched him in the face, insulting and humiliating him. When the chief of the police station arrived and learned that Salem was a public official, he ordered his transfer to another police station to be interviewed and then released.

SANAD Elhaq appointed a lawyer who filed a complaint for violence in August 2022. While this complaint has still not led to the opening of an investigation, Salem learned in January 2023 that he had been convicted of contempt of a public official following a complaint lodged by his assailant, without being informed of the proceedings.

According to SANAD’s documentation since January 2022, 57% of victims of torture and ill-treatment are prosecuted for contempt. These prosecutions follow complaints lodged by the aggressing agents in order to justify the arrest of the victims and discredit their complaints of torture or violence. In almost all cases, investigations for contempt progress much more rapidly than the complaints lodged by victims against their aggressors.