- Thread starter
- Staff
- #1
Dadparvar
Staff member
- Nov 11, 2016
- 10,332
- 0
- 6
Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Tunisia on Friday to overturn convictions in the so-called “Conspiracy Case” appeal to be heard next week; demanding the release of all detainees.
The 37 defendants—including opponents of President Kais Saied, activists, lawyers, and researchers—were charged under numerous articles of Tunisia’s Penal Code and the 2015 Counterterrorism Law. The case was first brought to the Tunis Court of First Instance in April of this year and the defendants were sentenced between four to sixty six years of imprisonment for “conspiracy against state security” and terrorism offences.
HRW highlighted several violations of fair trial rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, signed and ratified by Tunisia. Many of those convicted were initially arrested in February 2023. This means they had been held in pretrial detention for more than two years, Which exceeds the maximum 14 months of pretrial detention allowed under article 85 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The rights group also reported violence and poor detention conditions, including an assault against activist Jaouhar Ben Mbarek.
The rights group also noted significant concerns with the procedural history of the trial. At April trial, all detainees were convicted after three hearings, without due process protections. At this current appeal, defence lawyers were given three days notice about the appeal hearing. Consequently, the hearing was postponed to November 17.
Additionally, the upcoming hearings will be held via videoconference which the defence committee asserts violates the right of detainees to be physically present before a judge, so that their health and the conditions of their detention can be assessed properly.
The deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch remarked, “[t]his entire case has been a masquerade, from the baseless accusations to a judicial process devoid of fair trial guarantees. The authorities should end this judicial farce, which is part of a wider crackdown on any form of criticism or dissent.”
Several detainees, including Ben Mbarek, Issam Chebbi, Abdelhamid Jelassi, and Ridha Belhaj, have launched hunger strikes to protest what they call arbitrary detention and inadequate medical care.
Since President Saied took over Tunisia’s state institutions in July 2021, the authorities have dramatically intensified their repression of dissent. In 2022, Tunisian President Kais Saied issued a decree replacing the country’s judicial independence watchdog with his own council and giving himself near-unilateral power over the appointment and dismissal of judges. Starting from early 2023, there have been increased arbitrary arrests and detentions. Tunisia’s recent withdrawal of individuals’ and NGOs’ access to the African Court is remarked by rights groups as a major setback for human rights accountability. This withdrawal will become effective in March next year.
The post Rights group urges Tunisia to overturn conspiracy trial convictions appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.
The 37 defendants—including opponents of President Kais Saied, activists, lawyers, and researchers—were charged under numerous articles of Tunisia’s Penal Code and the 2015 Counterterrorism Law. The case was first brought to the Tunis Court of First Instance in April of this year and the defendants were sentenced between four to sixty six years of imprisonment for “conspiracy against state security” and terrorism offences.
HRW highlighted several violations of fair trial rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, signed and ratified by Tunisia. Many of those convicted were initially arrested in February 2023. This means they had been held in pretrial detention for more than two years, Which exceeds the maximum 14 months of pretrial detention allowed under article 85 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The rights group also reported violence and poor detention conditions, including an assault against activist Jaouhar Ben Mbarek.
The rights group also noted significant concerns with the procedural history of the trial. At April trial, all detainees were convicted after three hearings, without due process protections. At this current appeal, defence lawyers were given three days notice about the appeal hearing. Consequently, the hearing was postponed to November 17.
Additionally, the upcoming hearings will be held via videoconference which the defence committee asserts violates the right of detainees to be physically present before a judge, so that their health and the conditions of their detention can be assessed properly.
The deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch remarked, “[t]his entire case has been a masquerade, from the baseless accusations to a judicial process devoid of fair trial guarantees. The authorities should end this judicial farce, which is part of a wider crackdown on any form of criticism or dissent.”
Several detainees, including Ben Mbarek, Issam Chebbi, Abdelhamid Jelassi, and Ridha Belhaj, have launched hunger strikes to protest what they call arbitrary detention and inadequate medical care.
Since President Saied took over Tunisia’s state institutions in July 2021, the authorities have dramatically intensified their repression of dissent. In 2022, Tunisian President Kais Saied issued a decree replacing the country’s judicial independence watchdog with his own council and giving himself near-unilateral power over the appointment and dismissal of judges. Starting from early 2023, there have been increased arbitrary arrests and detentions. Tunisia’s recent withdrawal of individuals’ and NGOs’ access to the African Court is remarked by rights groups as a major setback for human rights accountability. This withdrawal will become effective in March next year.
The post Rights group urges Tunisia to overturn conspiracy trial convictions appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.