Four-month suspended prison sentence for ARP deputy Moez Ben Youssef

Tunis: The criminal division of the Sousse 2 Court of First Instance on Friday sentenced Assembly of People's Representatives (ARP) deputy Moez Ben Youssef to a 4-month suspended prison sentence and a fine. Lawyer Houssem Zayani told TAP that the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Sousse 2 Court of First Instance had issued a warrant against the MP on July 1, accusing him of "insulting a public official and drunkenness." The warrant had been issued following an altercation between the MP and a taxi driver, which subsequently escalated into an argument and verbal exchange with law enforcement officers, he specified. "The defence will appeal this ruling against the MP, who enjoys parliamentary immunity, in accordance with the provisions of Article 65 of the Tunisian Constitution," said Zayani. Under article 65 of the Tunisian Constitution, no MP may be prosecuted or arrested during his or her term of office for criminal offences until the Assembly of People's Representatives has lifted the immunity covering him or her. However, if they are caught in the act, they may be arrested. The ARP is informed without delay and the arrest is maintained if the immunity is lifted. Article 66 stipulates that MPs do not enjoy parliamentary immunity for offences of insult, defamation and exchange of violence committed inside or outside the parliament, nor do they enjoy immunity if they interfere with the proper functioning of the assembly. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse