Tunis/Tunisia — President of the Republic Kais Saied called on Justice Minister Leila Jafal during a meeting at the Carthage Palace on Monday to "protect whistleblowers if they are right".

Saied explained, according to a video posted by the Presidency of the Republic on its page on social media, that " this is not about closing down accounts inside the country", pointing out that "there is a lot of evidence to suggest that whistleblowers pay a high price, due to the exposure of the practices of a number of people who believe they are above the law".

He also called for " equity for all, based on the law, so that everyone with a claim takes his right ", believing that " the state can only be redressed by putting an end to the networks that operate within state bodies in many sectors ".

After stressing the role of the judiciary in the fight against corruption networks that "are still trying to sabotage the country and society", the Head of State called on those he described as "honest judges" to assume their responsibilities in order to put an end to the corrupt.

He said that "the treason of some and their membership in the arms of foreigners cannot intercede for them nor allow them immunity", stressing that the Tunisian state is based on law and that "it seeks to establish a society of law, in which the citizen feels at the origin of the legal basis set by the legislator".

Regarding checks and balances, the President of the Republic stressed the need to "reach a fair legal solution that allows those concerned to benefit, instead of the current legal situations that do not do justice to the creditor and keep the debtor in prison for decades", recalling that he called for the preparation of a draft law that puts an end to such situations.