“Those who know about a crime and do not stop it, become partners in the crime,” according to the Tunisian Penal Code. Yet the code will most likely not apply to the Ministry of Interior in its failure to prevent the assassination of opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi on July 25, despite receiving a warning from the United States Central Intelligence Agency 12 days prior to the attack.
In a document from July 13 and leaked from the ministry last week, a brief but definitive alarm was set off by the CIA about “Salafist elements” planning to target Brahmi.
“Those who know about a crime and do not stop it, become partners in the crime,” according to the Tunisian Penal Code. Yet the code will most likely not apply to the Ministry of Interior in its failure to prevent the assassination of opposition politician Mohamed Brahmi on July 25, despite receiving a warning from the United States Central Intelligence Agency 12 days prior to the attack.
In a document from July 13 and leaked from the ministry last week, a brief but definitive alarm was set off by the CIA about “Salafist elements” planning to target Brahmi.
Tayeb Oqaili, a member of a human rights’ committee attempting to “uncover the truth about the assassination” of the two recently slain opposition figures, Chokri Belaïd and Mohamed Brahmi, detonated a bomb by announcing last week that Prime Minister Ali Larayedh knew about the document and ordered that it be destroyed directly after Brahmi’s murder.
Oqaili plans to file a complaint against Prime Minister Ali Larayedh and Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddo, in addition to 18 Interior Ministry security officials, public security units, and the anti-terrorism department, accusing them of “participation and complicity in the assassination of MP Mohammed Brahmi.
The government is involved in this crime
“It made me cry and laugh at the same time,” said Adnan Brahmi, the son Mohamed Brahmi. “The CIA provides information on the assassination of my father and specifies the place of the attack, saying it will take place in front of his house, and no measure was been taken whatsoever to protect him. “The leaked document proves that the prime minister and some security personnel are involved in the assassination of my father to deprive me and my brothers from having a caring father. They will not go unpunished.”
Murad Amdouni, one of the Constituent Assembly’s MPs for the People’s Movement, to which Brahmi also belonged, said that the information which havs been revealed so far, especially the warning document, will certainly change the direction and scope of this case. Instead of only incriminating Ansar al-Sharia, the government and the Interior Ministry’s security leaders, who were reluctant to provide Brahmi with protection – will also be implicated.
Sami Tahiri, the spokesman for the Union of Tunisian Workers (the largest labor organization in the country) said:”This issue is very serious and has reached a limit of government complicity in the assassination of Brahmi, especially with news being circulated on the presence of a parallel security forces under the command of the Ennahda Mmvement and the movement’s attempts to control state institutions.”
He stressed that the labor organization will spare no effort in aiding in the uncovering the names of those who were a part of the assassination of Brahmi and Belaid.
Allegations and fabrications
Prime Minister Ali Larayedh quickly responded to Tayeb Oqaili’s accusations and denied his knowledge, claiming that he did not know about the leaked document until days after Brahmi’s assassination.
The statement described Tayeb Oqaili’s statements as “allegations and fabrications” and considered making use of these incidents “to falsely accuse the government and civil and security apparatuses and to question their performance and their credibility is a politically motivated act aimed at slandering and undermining the state institutions instead of encouraging respect for them and respect for justice and fairness values.”
Confirming Oqaili’s statements, one of the Tunisian newspapers published the security document from the CIA. Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddo did not deny this news and admitted that his ministry failed in protecting the pan-Arab and national figure, despite receiving a warning from an “external security apparatus” that Brahmi was being targeted.
Directly after the document was published in the newspaper, however, Interior Minister Ben Jeddo said that he didn’t know about the US warning in a timely manner because the public security administration, which received the warning letter from the CIA, did not send it to him. Minister Ben Jeddo said that he ordered investigations into officials’ identities who did not deal seriously with the document.
Yet the Interior Minister changed his statements during the questioning session, which he attended at the end of last week in front of the constituent assembly.
“Contrary to what is being circulated regarding the leaked document and the ministry’s knowledge of Brahmi’s assassination half a month before the attack, the letter went through the right channels and the different security administrations were informed about its content,” Ben Jeddo insisted.”The anti-terrorism department, and the regional national security in Tunis and in Sidi Bouzid (the hometown of Brahmi) were also informed. However, the assassination took place before taking the necessary measures to prevent it by the ministry.”
The Interior Minister pointed out that intelligence information is usually not submitted to the ministry until its seriousness is identified and measures to be taken are in place. He added that “the information received on Brahmi’s assassination was not confirmed, brief and not definite.” He justified himself saying that foreign intelligence services often received information from foreign intelligence about assassinations and bombings, but they did not actually happen.
The interior ministry already targeted
Ben Jeddo stressed that there is no chance that the interior ministry is involved in the assassination. He indicated that the interior ministry itself is targeted by the al-Qaeda Organization and that there are letters which confirm that officials of the ministry are targeted.
The Tunisian Interior Minister did not like the uproar caused by the leaked document. He said that this was the only document about the issue but the attack was not an isolated incident. He gave examples of other countries and reminded the people of Madrid bombings. “The Spanish authorities received warnings about the attack but it did not deal with them seriously. The same thing happened with the September 11, 2001 attack in the US.”
The opposition accuses the Ennahda Movement, ever since the appointment of Ali Larayedh as Interior Minister, of creating a parallel and a mysterious security apparatus within the ministry loyal to him. But the Ennahda has denied these accusations.
Treason or manipulation
Reactions after the publishing of the leaked document varied. Some demanded quick and serious investigations and others said that this issue had been politically manipulated. Then there were those who specifically focused on the issue of how could such a document be leaked.
Taher Hmila, an opposition MP, said: “Those who concealed the document and didn’t inform the interior minister about its content should be brought to court on charges of negligence and treason.” He added that “the environment of Tunisian security apparatus is not healthy because those who perform their duties in a good way are expelled or punished. This means that the security administration is working for the interests of other parties at the expense of the nation’s interests.”
Imad Aldaimi, the Secretary General of the Congress for the Republic Party (the party of President Marzouki), did not underplay the seriousness of this issue and stressed the importance of investigations. However, he said that “the issue of the secret document has been given a size bigger than its real size and it has been used as a pretext for pressuring the prime minister.”
Contrary to those who reacted with surprise to the interior ministry’s absence of protection for Brahmi and contrary to comments related to the document itself, Sahbi Atig, the head of the ruling Islamic Ennahda Movement’s parliamentary bloc, condemned those who were behind the leaked security document and demanded investigations into who leaked it.
“What does it mean when such a security document becomes a public document?” Atig questioned. This is a very serious issue, which compromises the national security of the country. Making secret documents public in itself is a very serious crime punishable by law.”
On the other hand, the Secretary-General of the Union of Tunisian Workers denounced reactions that have accompanied the leaked document. He thanked those who made it available and demanded holding ineffective people accountable for their carelessness instead of condemning those who made the secret document available to the public. “The carelessness and inefficiency in dealing with this issue is in itself enough reason for the resignation of the government,” he said.
An investigation committee
In the same context, Suad Abdel-Rahim, the head of the Constituent Assembly’s Rights and Freedoms Committee, said that there will be a small committee to follow up on investigations conducted by the Interior Ministry into the assassination of her former colleague, Mohamed Brahmi.
Abdel-Rahim explained that the Committee, which has yet to be formed, will primarily follow-up on issues of the investigation related to the assassination warning.
The Interior Ministry recently categorized Ansar al-Sharia as a terrorist organization and accused it of being responsible for the assassination of Chokri Belaid, the leftist opposition figure and the pan-Arab MP Mohamed Brahmi. It also revealed an alleged assassination list prepared by Ansar al-Sharia, which contains the names of politicians and activists, among them Kamal Morjane, a foreign minister during Ben Ali’s rule and Beji Caid Essebsi, the former prime minister and the head of the Nidaa Tounes Movement.
