The Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms expresses its strong condemnation of the unfair custodial sentences issued on 28 May 2025 by the Court of First Instance in Gabes against some activists for their participation in peaceful protests demanding the dismantling of polluting industrial units in the region and guaranteeing the right to a safe and secure environment.
The court sentenced activist Mohammed Ali Rtimi to four months in prison and two students to two months in prison each, setting a dangerous precedent in the judicial handling of protest movements and legitimate social demands, and representing a serious escalation in the targeting of young activists and human rights defenders.
The association affirms that these orders represent a serious deviation from the principle of protecting rights and freedoms, and threaten to turn the judiciary into a tool for settling scores with free voices and civil society. These prosecutions represent a direct violation of the principles of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, guaranteed by Articles 37 and 42 of the Tunisian Constitution, as well as the continued violation of the right to a healthy environment, as stated in the Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia.
These orders breach the Tunisian state’s international obligations under the International Covenants on Civil, Political, Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The ongoing harassment of protest movements, most notably the prison sentences against the young individuals of Gabes, reveals a clear political determination to suppress critical voices and social demands, regardless of their political, human rights, or environmental aspects.
Thus, Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms reaffirms its absolute solidarity with the arrested activists, their families, their comrades, and their defense team, and calls for their immediate release and the dropping of all malicious charges brought against them. It also calls for the accountability of all those proven to have been involved in the violence of the young activists during the period of arrest, and urges the Tunisian state to respect its human rights obligations and stop the policies of suppressing civic action and criminalising free expression.
