Tunisia’s Thala and Kasserine Martyrs’ case adjourned

Martyrs’ families Tunis – Nabil Zaghdoud Tunisian Military Criminal Court in Kef (north-western Tunisia) adjourned on Monday the hearing of Thala and Kasserine Martyrs’ case to March 12, which angered the martyrs’ families who decided to head to the Algerian borders, protesting what they called “weakness of judiciary”, according to Kef local radio.
The session witnessed considerable debate between the defence lawyers and plaintiffs over the presence of martyrs’ families in the courtroom. The defence decided to withdraw from the session protesting the attendance of families, as the court decided in the last session to ban them of attending the sessions after harassing and insulting the defence lawyers during the last session.  
Sharaf al-Din Qaleel, one of the martyrs’’ families lawyers told the Tunisian News Agency, that the Military Criminal Court in Kef decision to adjourn the trial and end Monday session without consultation was violating of the  criminal law.
In his statement, he described the court decision as “negative”, adding that the court refused the families requests to hear the witnesses in the case.
Qaleel also pointed out that the court decision disappointed the martyrs’ families which, according to them, expressed the Tunisian authorities’ unwillingness of trial the martyrs’ killers.
He also said that the families threatened to head to the Algerian borders, protesting the court decision.
The proceedings for this case were initiated on November 28, and the second hearing took place on December 12. The trial was initially conducted in Kassrine’s court, but was later transferred to a Kef’s military court. Civilians are not normally allowed to attend military court proceedings; however, a law was passed on September 16, 2011, to permit looser attendance regulations.
During the Tunisian uprising, clashes between protestors and the police, from December 17, 2010 - January 14 2011, resulted in 42 casualties and 97 wounded individuals.
43 people have been charged for their involvement in this case, among them the ousted president Ben Ali, the former Minister of Interior Rafiq Belhaj Kassem, the former General Manager of the Intervention Units Jalel Boudrigua, the General Manager of Public Security Lotfi Zwawi, the Chief of the Presidential Guard, and others who directly or indirectly authorized the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators.