account the gravity of the facts, the circumstances of the case and the
interest of justice.
40. The Respondent State affirms that, in the present case, it emerges from the
investigation report that the Applicants were being prosecuted for serious
offences and that releasing them posed a direct threat to the integrity of the
investigation. According to the Respondent State, the investigating judge
dismissed the Applicants’ applications for bail on the grounds that such a
measure would affect the proper conduct of the case, especially as the
charges against them were established. The Respondent State further
submits that, contrary to the allegations contained in the Application, the 20
July 2023 decision of the Sousse Court of Appeal Indictment Division (the
Indictment Division) came after the renewal of the committal order issued
against the Applicants and before the end of the fourteen- (14) month
period, as by law required.
41. The Respondent State further avers that on 16 June 2023, the investigating
judge issued an order referring the Applicants to the Indictment Division. It
further notes that, by Decision No. 46375 of 20 July 2023, the Sousse Court
of Appeal referred the Applicants to the Criminal Division of the Sousse
Court of Appeal. The aforementioned decision was the subject of a
cassation appeal filed by the Public Prosecutor and several defendants,
including the Applicants in the present case. The Respondent State further
avers that the case was sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the
Cassation Court, whose President was requested to set a date for the
hearing. According to the Respondent State, the case is still pending before
the Cassation Court, with registration number 10049.
*
42. In their Reply, the Applicants pray that the objection be dismissed. To this
effect, they submit that in accordance with Article 85 of the CCP, pre-trial
detention may not exceed fourteen (14) months, that is, four hundred and
twenty (420) days. They maintain that they were placed in detention on 21
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