Dhia Hamdi
Student
Summary
Dhia Hamdi, a Tunisian student and activist in the Tunisian Campaign for the Boycott of and Opposition to Normalisation, was arrested, had his phone seized and was questioned because of his activism and his writing of slogans denouncing the genocide and normalisation. After searching his mobile phone, the police found graffiti images by the artist "Rached Tamboura", and on that basis he was charged with committing a heinous act against the President of the Republic under Article 67 of the Penal Code.
Personal Information
Name: Dhia Hamdi
Nationality: Tunisian
Status: Student
Charge: Committing a heinous act against the President of the Republic under Article 67 of the Penal Code.
Incidents of Violation
Early on 21 September 2024, student Dhia Hamdi was arrested in Sfax governorate, and it emerged that his arrest was due to his activism in support of the Palestinian cause and his writing of the phrase "Boycott, don't fund the genocide" on advertising billboards. After he was taken to the police station, he was questioned. The victim of the violation recounts that his interrogation took place without a lawyer present, that most of the questions concerned his activism and what he does, and that he was subjected to pressure and harassment to answer all the questions. Furthermore, they searched his personal phone, which remained in their custody on the pretext of continuing the investigation and checking the documents and photos it contained. In his testimony to Intersection Association, Dhia added that his room had also been searched.
When the technical examination of the phone was completed, during which they found a screenshot of a mural painted by imprisoned artist "Rached Tamboura", another summons was issued to the victim of the violation on 16 October 2025. After attending the questioning, he said that it centred on the presence of the image on his phone and the purpose of having it there. It later emerged that the charges against Dhia were based on Article 67 of the Penal Code, which punishes anyone who commits a heinous act against the President of the Republic with up to three years in prison and a fine of 240 dinars, or either of these penalties. Dhia was then left at liberty, and a hearing was set at the Court of First Instance of Bab Bhar in Sfax on 31 October 2024.
Human Rights Violations
Arresting and interrogating citizens because of their political, human rights or civic activity constitutes a flagrant violation of their civil and political rights. Within this context, the arrest of student Dhia Hamdi constitutes a violation of his right to freedom of opinion and expression, since what he did falls within his right to expression and peaceful demonstration, and what he wrote is an act of protest and a peaceful expression of his opinions. This is a right guaranteed to all citizens by the 2022 Constitution of the Tunisian Republic, Article 42 of which states that "Freedom of peaceful assembly and demonstration is guaranteed", in addition to the inclusion of this right in the international and regional conventions to which Tunisia is a party.
Moreover, summoning him again after his release and questioning him following the discovery of a screenshot of Rached Tamboura's mural, and characterising it as the offence of committing a heinous act against the President of the Republic under Article 67 of the Penal Code, constitutes a violation of his right to freedom of expression and a breach of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration, which provides 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."
These acts also contravene General Comment No. 34 of 2011 of the UN Human Rights Committee, which clarified that paragraph 2 of the above-mentioned Article 19 "protects all forms of expression and the means of their dissemination. Such forms include spoken, written and sign language and such non-verbal expression as images and objects of art. Means of expression include books, newspapers, pamphlets, posters, banners, dress and legal submissions. They include all forms of audio-visual as well as electronic and internet-based modes of expression."
Likewise, as a member of the African Union, Tunisia is bound to respect the provision of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in Article 9, paragraph 2, that "Every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions within the law." At the national level, "Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information and publication shall be guaranteed."
In addition to these violations, the arrest of student Dhia and the questioning and hearing of the victim of the violation without a lawyer present constitute a violation of the rights of persons held in custody contained in Law No. 5 of 2016 of 16 February 2016 amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which explicitly provides in Article 13 septies that "A suspect who is not held in custody by judicial police officers [...] may choose a lawyer to attend with him when he is heard or confronted with others."
The rise in this type of arrest, the increase in such trials and the spread of charges targeting people on the basis of their opinions and civic activity reflect nothing but the rising level of repression and restrictions on freedoms in Tunisia, and the State's moves to besiege public space and impose further control over freedoms. Democratic societies and States that respect human rights and seek to guarantee them are not built by confiscating the opinions of their citizens and throwing them into prison, suppressing freedoms, and tracking down all critical voices, whether human rights defenders, activists or citizens from different groups, and attempting to silence them.