Hamza Nasri

Summary

Human rights activist Hamza Nasri took part in a peaceful demonstration in Tunis on 18 January 2021 to denounce the deterioration of the country's economic and political situation. While he was returning home, he was arrested by police forces and placed in detention on a charge of insulting a public official. He was subsequently left at liberty. Two hearings were held after 18 January 2021, the first on 9 December 2021 and the second on 24 January 2022, and the verdict was pronounced on 31 January 2022: the Misdemeanour Chamber of the Tunis District Court sentenced Hamza to three months in prison.

Personal Information

Name: Hamza Nasri

Nationality: Tunisian

Status: Human rights defender, queer activist, treasurer of the Tunis office of Intersection Association, and vice-president of the Tunis Bab Bhar branch of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights.

Incidents of Violation

On 18 January 2021, Hamza Nasri took part in a peaceful demonstration in Tunis to denounce the deterioration of the country's economic and political situation. After the demonstration, while Hamza was on his way home, members of the police followed him and arrested him. While Hamza Nasri's lawyer was searching for his place of detention, the Bab Souika police district and the Bab Bhar police station provided incorrect information about where Hamza Nasri was being held. Police officers then accused Hamza of deliberately making an obscene gesture with his finger towards the police. In the record of his hearing, Hamza Nasri stated that he "took part, like other citizens, in a peaceful march calling for the improvement of the civil, political, economic and social rights of the Tunisian people. During the jostling among the march participants, he was assaulted by persons whom he did not know to be plain-clothes police officers or other persons." The police officers' statements against Hamza claimed that the activist Hamza Nasri had tried to assault them and had made obscene gestures at them while they were performing their duties.

Charges

Insulting a public official by words and gestures under Article 125 of the Penal Code.

Trials and Legal Procedures

After 18 January 2021, once Hamza had been released from detention and left at liberty, two hearings were held, the first on 9 December 2021 and the second on 24 January 2022. The day before yesterday, 31 January 2022, the verdict was pronounced: the Misdemeanour Chamber of the Tunis District Court, ruling at first instance in a judgment deemed to have been delivered in his presence, sentenced Hamza to three months in prison, even though Hamza was absent from the trial and did not appear in the courtroom.

Human Rights Violations

The prison sentence handed down against activist Hamza Nasri constitutes a violation of the right to peaceful assembly and protest, a human right guaranteed by all international laws and norms. Moreover, the court's treatment of Hamza Nasri as present when he did not attend any hearing is a flagrant breach of procedure and renders the judgment formally defective. It may deprive Hamza Nasri of one stage of the judicial process, in addition to imposing a custodial sentence on him for a flimsy conviction of the kind the State and security forces continue to use to intimidate human rights defenders.

Sources

In this documentation, Intersection Association relied on the testimony of the victim of the violation, Hamza Nasri, and on a telephone call with his lawyer on 31 January 2022.