Wajih El Zidi

Summary

Wajih El Zidi is the Secretary-General of the General Transport Union, which is a labor union affiliated with the General Tunisian Labor Union. In October 2022, the Minister of Transportation filed a complaint against him and requested the Public Prosecution to refer him by virtue of Decree No.54 in light of several statements and posts on Facebook.

Personal Information

Name: Wajih El Zidi

Nationality: Tunisian

Occupation: Secretary-General of the General Transport Union

Charges: Exploitation of information networks and systems to spread and diffuse false statements and announcements related to the context of Article 24 of Decree No.54

Incidents of Violation

On February 15, 2023, Union activist Wajih El Zidi was summoned to appear before the Third Unit of the National Guard in Ben Arous for interrogation concerning the complaint filed against him by the current Minister of Transportation two days after questioning him regarding other cases related to his union activities.

The case filed against him by the Minister of Transportation dates back to October 12, 2022, when on the same date, Wajih El Zidi posted on his personal and the General Union’s page, where he condemned the issues within the public transportation sector in Tunis. In addition, he also made statements on different dates in which he stated a set of economic and social unanimous demands, and criticized the policy adapted by the Ministry of Transportation in terms of addressing issues and problems concerning the Transportation sector, which was considered by the ministry a false accusation, attach on a official institution, defamation and violation of the administration’s inviolability. On the other hand, Wajih EL Zidi expressed, in his testimony to Intersection Association, that most of his statements and publications critizes several problems with the aim of highlighting and solving them in a timely manner, besides everything he said falls under his union rights and freedom of expression which is guaranteed by law.

Human Rights Violations

Intersection Association believes that the use of Decree No.54 by the political authority as weapon to jeopardize and silience its critics, constitutes a flagrant violation of freedom of expression. In fact, pursuing people judicially for their opinions clearly contradicts Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which stipulates that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Further to this, it is a blatant transgression of Article 37 of the Tunisian constitution which insists that “ Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information and publishing is guaranteed.” Not to mention the set of violations embodied in Decree No.54 by imposing imprisonment and hefty fines for several actions that could be considered as dangerous crimes which threaten public order. Additionally, The Secretary-General of the General Transport Union’s statements falls under his union duties  and his defense of the economic and social rights of his peers. His exercise of freedom of expression is constitutionally guaranteed and protected by international agreements. Besides, his social media posts and statements do not pose any kind of danger as mentioned in the charges against him.

Sources

Intersection Association documented this case after communicating with Union Activist, Wajih El Zidi, and receiving his testimony, as well as examining his posts and statements and reviewing the text of the complaint filed against him.