Extradition Agreement Between Algeria and Tunisia

The Tunisian Parliament approved, by a majority, a draft basic law related to the extradition agreement with Algeria, which aims to strengthen coordination between the two countries in the field of countering crime and terrorism.

Tunisian MPs, according to the Tunis Africa News Agency, during their discussion of the draft on Tuesday, appreciated this legislative initiative and its importance in strengthening strategic cooperation between Tunisia and Algeria in the face of common challenges, most notably the security challenges that require further coordination of efforts to counter terrorism, smuggling and organized crime on the border between the two countries, and hand over the wanted to justice.

MP Saber Masmoudi (Al-Ahrar Bloc) considered that this agreement is more than necessary because of the borders extending between Tunisia and Algeria, especially since these borders were and still are among the escape routes for the wanted in Tunisia, whether to settle in Algeria or to cross to other countries, wondering about the existence of “joint agreement on judicial cooperation and extradition of criminals between the two countries”.

Representative Fatima Al-Masdi (no party affiliation-liberal) raised questions about the efforts of the Ministry of Justice and the Tunisian state as a whole concerning the extradition and repatriation of those wanted in cases of a terrorist nature and those holed up in fleeing in foreign countries, calling for the necessity of coordinating the efforts of all those involved to implement subpoena cards and extradite these criminals.

MP Badreddine Gammoudi (Sovereign National Line Bloc) talked about the file of “missing Algerians” in Tunisia, whose number, he said, reached about 800 and who were thrown into Tunisian prisons from 2008 to 2022 without knowledge of their families and deprived them of their most basic rights, according to him.

Tunisian Minister of Justice, Leila Jaffal, denied what some MPs said about the presence of about 800 Algerians in Tunisian prisons without charges, stressing that any prisoner has a documented charge.

She confirmed that the number of Algerian prisoners arrested is 199 (193 males and 6 females), indicating that most of their cases are related to drugs (about 133 cases) and illegal immigration (11 cases), with 8 prisoners in terrorism cases and 6 arrested in property seizure cases, asserting the presence of these prisoners on a nominal list along with the type of cases and their rulings.

Leila Jaffal explained that her ministry and all its structures respect the procedures in all these cases, stressing that demands for the extradition of Tunisians involved in terrorism cases are being activated in several foreign countries, and some countries respond and others refuse the cooperation.