Tunis

For more than ten days, the information was kept from the general public. But in Tunis, circles of researchers and journalists were talking of nothing else: Victor Dupont, a doctoral student at the Institut de recherches et d’études sur le monde arabe et musulman (Iremam) in Aix-en-Provence, was arrested on October 19. The 27-year-old Frenchman, who was preparing a thesis on unemployed graduates, is accused of “undermining state security”. A French-Tunisian friend has also been jailed.

Since the president Kaïs Saïed froze Parliament in July 2021, then set up a presidentialist regime, more than a hundred Tunisians (journalists, activists, politicians…) have been imprisoned for a variety of reasons. While at least three Franco-Tunisians – a former minister and two journalists – are currently in prison, Victor Dupont is the first non-bi-national Frenchman to bear the brunt of the justice system shaped by Kaïs Saïed, re-elected on October 6.

On October 19, Victor Dupont has an appointment at 11:30 a.m. at his home with three French friends to go on a weekend trip to Cap Bon.” I sent him a message telling him to get down on the street because we were coming, says Parisian librarian Édouard Matalon. When I got out of the cab, I saw Victor pinned against a wall by 4 or 5 men in civilian clothes. He shouts at me Call the embassy !” “Édouard Matalon takes the phone of the friend accompanying him, but it is immediately snatched away. He was arrested in his turn. Another friend, who had been waiting in Victor Dupont’s apartment, went down to the street and was also arrested. After a search of the young sociologist’s home, and several hours locked up in unmarked cars, the four friends were taken to El Gorjani, headquarters of the judicial police. They spent the rest of the day there. Around 9pm, they were told that Victor Dupont had been taken into custody. His three comrades were released.

On Monday 21st, they return to El Gorjani. There, they learned that Victor Dupont had been referred to the military court in Kef (to the north-west), an hour from Jendouba where the young man, a member of a scientific program funded by the European Research Council (ERC), had been doing his fieldwork. ” It’s totally exceptional for a young French researcher to be brought before military justice “ Tunisia, which generally deals with attacks on state security,” Vincent Geisser, director of Iremam, told AFP.

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“Unjust acts

Édouard Matalon and his two friends immediately go to Kef with the lawyer. Once there, one of the two young women (whose family does not wish to reveal her identity) is arrested. This French-Tunisian resident of Paris has been placed under arrest for reasons as yet unknown. On the same day, Victor Dupont was also placed under arrest on charges of undermining state security. The investigation is ongoing. Under the 2015 anti-terrorism law, he could serve up to 14 months in pretrial detention.

On the advice of the French embassy, Victor Dupont’s relatives did not wish to publicize the case. Le Point broke this silence on Wednesday evening. ” The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and our embassy in Tunis are in close contact with the Tunisian authorities on this matter. “the Quai d’Orsay told AFP.

In recent months, at least two other cases have been opened against Europeans, who are free but forbidden to leave Tunisian territory. ” The failure to publicize this type of case has not proved effective. It gives the impression that consular services are caving in to unjust acts. “says a French researcher.

What is the objective of the Tunisian authorities? ” They send messages, analyzes a Tunisian researcher. To researchers and journalists, they show that no one is safe. For France, they are a reminder that Tunisia is sovereign and can do as it pleases. “Tunis, he reminds us, is also trying to forge closer ties with Iran, China and Russia.