Excerpt from document summary
(C) Nineteen Tunisians have been convicted of varying
degrees of involvement in terror planning in two separate
trials in the past two weeks. One of the defense attorneys
who represented clients in both cases offered his assessment
that a few of those convicted had indeed intended to carry
out attacks in Tunisia.

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Content
S E C R E T TUNIS 000975

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE FOR S/CT - NELSON; NEA/MAG - WILLIAMS, NARDI AND
STEWART;
NSC FOR YERGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2018
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, PREL, TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIA: NINETEEN CONVICTED IN TERRORISM TRIALS

REF: A. TUNIS 827
B. TUNIS 168
C. TUNIS 79
D. TUNIS 78
E. TUNIS 75

Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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Summary
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1. (C) Nineteen Tunisians have been convicted of varying
degrees of involvement in terror planning in two separate
trials in the past two weeks. One of the defense attorneys
who represented clients in both cases offered his assessment
that a few of those convicted had indeed intended to carry
out attacks in Tunisia. It was not clear they had the means,
however. He said most of the defendants were innocent, but
were considered by the state to be guilty by association. He
complained that no material evidence had been presented
against the accused. These cases are the latest in a steady
stream of trials under Tunisia's 2003 anti-terror legislation
and are part of a spike in caseload as a result of sweeps
following the GOT's take-down of the "Soliman" cell in
December 2006-January 2007. End Summary.

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19 Convictions in Terror Cases; Caseload Continues Apace
--------------------------------------------- -----------

2. (SBU) The Tunis Court of First Instance in two separate
trials sentenced nineteen Tunisians on various counts under
Tunisia's 2003 anti-terror legislation. Their sentences
ranged from two to eight years in prison.

-- In the first case, thirteen Tunisians were sentenced on
August 23 to belonging to a terrorist organization in Tunisia
and planning to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.
Some members of this group were also charged with trying to
dispatch "jihadists" to Lebanon.

-- On August 18 the same court convicted six defendants of
attempting to establish a terrorist camp to train fighters to
go to Iraq. One of the six was said to have been caught
returning to Tunisia from Algeria.

3. (C) Tunisia has seen a steady stream of anti-terror cases
since the passage of its 2003 anti-terrorism legislation.
According to defense attorneys, there has been a surge in
such cases in recent months. This is because the large
numbers of arrests in the aftermath of the December
2006-January 2007 GOT takedown of the "Soliman" terror cell
are now coming to fruition (see Refs C-E). (Note: It
usually takes between nine months and two years for a
terrorism case to be heard in court.) One highly sought
after defense lawyer said that he has on average one such
case per day.

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The Defense Perspective:
A Few Intended to Carry Out Terrorist Acts
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4. (S) In a August 29 conversation with Pol/EconCouns, XXX , counsel to several of the defendants in
these cases, offered his assessment that some of those
accused in these two most recent cases did indeed have the
intention of carrying out the acts for which they were
convicted. He said that these men would describe themselves
as adherents to the Salafi school of Islam. He indicated
that these ringleaders had links with those who had been
involved in the December 2006-January 2007 "Soliman" terror
cell (Ref B). Most of these 19 defendants, however, had not
been directly involved. Rather, he said, many had been
unwitting associates. To illustrate his point, he noted that
when police arrest one suspect, they then review all incoming
and outgoing calls to his cell phone and sweep up everyone
with whom the suspect had been in contact. Family members,
he continued, are often considered guilty by association. He
said in the second case, there was just one individual who in
2004 conceived the plan to recruit jihadists to fight in Iraq
and establish a training camp to prepare them. The rest of
those convicted had rejected these recruitment efforts. In
the interim, they had gone on to live productive lives, with
some getting married. They were found guilty of failing to
notify the authorities that they had been targeted for
recruitment.

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Irregularities in the Process
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5. (C) Ben Amor charged that there were several
irregularities in the handling of these two most recent
cases. First, the defendants had had access to lawyers, he
said, but the lawyers had not been given enough time to
properly prepare for trial. In addition, the defendants in
the first case were not even interrogated during their trial.
In neither trial, he said, did the prosecutors present any
material evidence against the accused. He noted that none of
the three judges who hear terror-related cases in the Tunis
Court of First Instance enforce the protection of the
defendants' legal guarantees. He has filed appeals in both
cases and expects that they will be heard in two to four
months.

--------------------------------------------- ---
A Lawyer's Insight Into What's Behind this Trend
--------------------------------------------- ---

6. (C) Ben Amor said that he has seen a shift in his clients'
attitudes and motives over the past several years. (See also
Refs C-E.) In 2003-2004, he said, there was a lot more talk
about volunteering to fight in Iraq, Palestine, or
Afghanistan. In the past couple of years, however, there has
been a greater tendency to sign up for "jihad" in Tunisia.
Ben Amor attributed this shift to several factors: young men
feel marginalized in Tunisia; if they have grievances, there
is no one for them to bring them to. They also complain of
injustice. He said the security services' harassment of
observant Muslims had been a key motivating factor for
several clients. In particular, he said, they objected to
the GOT's campaign against women wearing the Islamic veil.
He also noted that the defendant who had been caught
returning to Tunisia from Algeria explained that he had gone
to live there after marrying a second wife, since polygamy is
illegal in Tunisia. On a more practical level, Ben Amor
said, it has become much more difficult for would-be
jihadists to leave the country; the borders are better
patrolled. Finally, Ben Amor assessed that al-Qaeda's
strategy of developing multiple fronts to "distract" the
Americans and US-sympathizers had gained traction.

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Comment
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7. (C) Ben Amor estimated that between 1,000-2,000 Tunisians
have been arrested on terrorism related charges since the
passage in 2003 of comprehensive anti-terror legislation.
According to his assessment, only a small fraction belong in
jail. As he put it, "Tunisia has many so-called 'terrorists'
but there have been no acts of terrorism." In its haste to
neutralize a serious threat, the GOT is trampling the rights
of the accused, such as by allowing such cases to be
prosecuted on the basis of flimsy, or no, material evidence.
As a result, it risks damaging what little credibility the
justice system has. It also risks enflaming the sense of
injustice, which Ben Amor identified as a widely held
motivating factor for those who have embraced violent
extremism. End Comment.

Please visit Embassy Tunis' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/tunis/index.c fm
GODEC