May 1st 2024
The Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT) has learned that the political detainees accused in the so-called « plot against State security » case have been on hunger strike since Monday April 29, 2024.
They are Issam Chabbi, Ridha Belhaj, Ghazi Chaouachi, Khayem Turki and Abdelhamid Jelassi. We have also learned that Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, accused in the same case, has been on a wildcat hunger strike since the end of the week, and that his state of health had deteriorated considerably, necessitating his urgent transfer to hospital.
The political detainees are protesting against the refusal of the Tunisian judicial authorities to release them once the maximum period of preventive detention stipulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure has expired.
The Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia:
· considers that these political prisoners are being arbitrarily detained by the Tunisian authorities, in violation of all national and international laws;
· holds these judicial and political authorities responsible for the consequences on Jaouhar Mbarek’s health, as well as those of the other political prisoners;
· renews its full support for the political prisoners in this alleged plot case, as well as for all prisoners of conscience, and demands that the authorities release them without delay;
· expresses its full support for the regional strike of Tunis lawyers, scheduled for May 2, 2024, and salutes their struggle to defend rights and freedoms;
· expresses its total solidarity with the former chairman of the Tunisian Bar Association, Mr. Chawki Tabib, and demands the lifting of all restrictions and sanctions he has been subjected to for three years;
· calls on all democratic, civil and political forces in Tunisia, the Maghreb and the rest of the world to put pressure on the Tunisian regime so as to release political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and to stop repressing, harassing, breaking the law and stifling freedoms.
Comité pour le Respect des Libertés et des Droits de l’Homme en Tunisie
Membre du Réseau Euro-méditerranéen des Droits de l’Homme
