Free Tunisia stands in solidarity with whistle-blower officer Samir Feriani and his family and demands his immediate release from military detention as well as dropping any charges that are based on his whistle-blowing efforts. Mr Feriani is a high-ranking officer who runs a program for training officers in the interior ministry. Mr Feriani has been in custody since May 29, 2011, after writing a letter to Interior Minister Habib Essid that named current high-level ministry officials whom he said bore responsibility for killing protesters during the Tunisian revolution, as well as for other human rights abuses. Mr Feriani’s letter also charged that ministry officials have been destroying sensitive archives following the ouster of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14. After first addressing the interior minister, Mr Feriani then addressed his accusations to the office of Prime Minister Béji Caïd Essebsi to no result. Two independent Tunisian newspapers, El Khabir (The Expert) and l’Audace (The Bold One), had begun reporting on Feriani’s accusations before his arrest. A military court investigative judge is investigating Feriani on charges under the penal code of “harming the external security of the state,” distributing information “likely to harm public order,”. The charges against Feriani remind us of the repressive legal arsenal employed by the Ben Ali government to punish dissidents and silence human rights activists. we deplore the way he was arrested request his immediate release as well as the transfer of his case to a civil court. Mr Feriani should be recommended for his efforts to help cleanse a security system that is still rigged with “criminals” and human rights violators at a time where Tunisia is making great efforts to transition to Democracy, that system remains the biggest obstacle.
