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Tunisia
Khaled Ben Saïd
Type of liability
Personne physique
Alleged perpetrator(s)
Khaled BEN SAID
Nationality of alleged perpetrator(s)
Tunisian
Legal classification of crime(s)
Torture and acts of barbarity
Source of the complaint
NGO
Victim
Ongoing proceedings
non
Regime
2 - 689-1 CPP
Summary of facts
Khaled Ben Saïd is a former Vice Consul of Tunisia, posted in Strasbourg. He is suspected of having tortured a woman in 1996 in Jendouba, while he was a police superintendent.
Legal proceedings
<p>March 9, 2001: The victim, Ms. Gharbi, filed a complaint.<br />
January 16, 2002: a judicial investigation was opened. FIDH and LDH joined as civil parties. Khaled Ben Saïd returned to Tunisia after being informed that proceedings had been initiated against him.<br />
February 14, 2002: an international arrest warrant was issued.<br />
July 2, 2003: an international letter rogatory was sent but was never executed by the Tunisian authorities.<br />
June 16, 2006: the public prosecutor issued final submissions seeking a dismissal.<br />
Following new anonymous witness testimony corroborating Ms. Gharbi’s allegations, a second notice of the end of the investigation was issued by the investigating judge at the end of 2006 and, contrary to the submissions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the investigating judge ordered the indictment of Khaled Ben Saïd before the Bas-Rhin Assize Court for acts of torture and barbarity committed on October 11 and 12, 1996, at the Djendouba police premises.<br />
In December 2008: Ben Saïd was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment for “acts of torture and barbarity.”<br />
December 29, 2008: the Prosecutor General’s Office appealed the decision of the Assize Court. On appeal, he was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for “acts of torture and barbarity.”</p>
January 16, 2002: a judicial investigation was opened. FIDH and LDH joined as civil parties. Khaled Ben Saïd returned to Tunisia after being informed that proceedings had been initiated against him.<br />
February 14, 2002: an international arrest warrant was issued.<br />
July 2, 2003: an international letter rogatory was sent but was never executed by the Tunisian authorities.<br />
June 16, 2006: the public prosecutor issued final submissions seeking a dismissal.<br />
Following new anonymous witness testimony corroborating Ms. Gharbi’s allegations, a second notice of the end of the investigation was issued by the investigating judge at the end of 2006 and, contrary to the submissions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the investigating judge ordered the indictment of Khaled Ben Saïd before the Bas-Rhin Assize Court for acts of torture and barbarity committed on October 11 and 12, 1996, at the Djendouba police premises.<br />
In December 2008: Ben Saïd was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment for “acts of torture and barbarity.”<br />
December 29, 2008: the Prosecutor General’s Office appealed the decision of the Assize Court. On appeal, he was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for “acts of torture and barbarity.”</p>
Complaint
oui
Names of NGOs / Victim(s)
Ms. Gharbi
FIDH
LDH
FIDH
LDH
Legal basis for jurisdiction (article)
689-2 CCP
Court of Assizes judgment
Sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment.
Court of Appeal ruling
Sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment.
Sources
OSJI, "Universal Jurisdiction Law and Practice in France", 2019