Elyes Chaouachi

Summary

Elyes Chaouachi is a political activist and member of the national assembly of the Democratic Current Party (Attayar). He was summoned to appear before the 5th Central Investigation Unit for Combatting Information and  Communications Technologies of the National Guard in L’Aouina to interrogate him regarding his statements in the context of his right to respond to the official spokesperson of the General Directorate of Prisons and Rehabilitation in of the political television programs

Personal Information

Name: Elyes Chouachi

Nationality: Tunisian

Age: 29

Occupation: Political Activist and Member of the National Assembly of the Democratic Current Party

Charges: Deliberate offense or causing discomfort to others through public communication networks, in accordance with the provisions of Article 86 of the Communications Code

Incidents of Violation

On June 9, 2023, political activist and member of the National Assembly of the Democratic Current Party, Elyes Chaouachi, received a summoning notice to appear before the 5th Central Investigation Unit for Combatting Information and  Communications Technologies of the National Guard in L’Aouina for interrogation on June 12, 2023, at 9 AM. In his testimony to Intersection Association, political activist Elyes Chaouachi stated that his summons for questioning is related to a phone intervention he made on June 7, 2023, during the program “Rondevo 9” on Attasia TV. This intervention was made in the context of exercising his right to respond to what the Official Spokesperson of the General Directorate of Prisons and Rehabilitation regarding the direct visitation permits issued by the Chief investigating Judge. These permits were later denied, as the permits were supposed to allow his family to visit his father “Ghazi Chaouachi,” who has been in prison since last February in connection with what is called “the conspiracy case.” In this regard, Elyes added that when he had exercised his right to respond, he stated that the detainees in the conspiracy case could not, up to this moment, be considered prisoners due to the absence of a verdict that sentences them to prison. This obliges the prison administration to adhere to the decisions of the investigating judge, including his father’s direct visitation permit. He considered that this rejection denied his father the right to visitation, explaining that this prohibition pursues the Minister of Justice orders according to the statement of the prison’s director. In addition, in the same intervention he made during the program, he clarified that their opposition to such violations is peaceful and does not target the prison’s administration or director but rather condemns the Tunisian authorities' violations, hence the reason Ghazi Chaouachi’s family did not resort to taking legal action under Article 313 of the Penal Code. Moreover, he demanded for his father to be treated without discrimination in comparison to other prisoners, and to guarantee all proper conditions and rights for them inside the prison. In this regard, Elyes Chaouachi was subject to legal actions, thus being summoned in a case initiated by the public prosecution. He is accused, according to Article 86 of the Penal Code, which punishes with imprisonment ranging from one to two years and a fine from TND 100 to TND 1000, of any individual who intentionally insults or causes discomfort to others via Public Communications Network

Human Rights Violations

Summoning the member of the National Assembly of the Democratic Current Part, Elyes Chaouachi, to appear before the 5th Central Investigation Unit for Combatting Information and  Communications Technologies of the National Guard in L’Aouina to question him due to his statements is a violation of his right to freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right protected by local and international conventions to which Tunisia is a party. Indeed, trying or imprisoning people due to their different opinions is a blatant violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates:” 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.” Furthermore, such violation breaches Chapter 37 of the Tunisian constitution, which states: “Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information, and publication is guaranteed. Prior censorship is prohibited for these freedoms

Sources

The case of political activist Elyes Chaouachi was documented after communicating with him via phone on June 14. It also involves the examination of the topic of the case, that is, the intervention on television, as well as several radio and blog statements relevant to the case