Aziz Mlawah

Summary

Aziz Mlawah is a young man residing in the Kram neighborhood of Tunis. He was arrested on the night of January 15, 2021, while escorting his mother from the station to their home after returning from work. The arrest took place within the context of a random arrest campaign that targeted youth in popular neighborhoods during the protests in January. Aziz Mlawah was charged with violating the state of emergency law and joining a group with the intention of causing unrest and blocking roads. He was sentenced to one year in prison.

Personal Information

Name: Aziz Mlaweh

Age: 24

Nationality: Tunisian

Occupation: Student

Incidents of Violation

Aziz Mlawah is a 24-year-old Tunisian student residing in Kram. During the lockdown period from 14 to 17 January, his mother used to work in one of the companies. On 15 January, Aziz went to the station to meet with his mother to take her home. Police forces arrested him in front of the bus station, severely assaulted him, and ordered him to sign a fabricated report. On the same day, January 15th, police forces arrested the 27-year-old Oussama Ben Mohammed, who lives and works in Qatar. He was arrested, tortured, and coerced to sign, along with Aziz,  the same fabricated report despite having no prior connection with each other. On January 18th, both Aziz and Oussama Ben Mohammed were sentenced to one year in prison on charges of violating the emergency law and, participating in a group to cause unrest, and blocking public roads.

Trials

He was sentenced to one-year imprisonment for violating the emergency state and joining a group aiming at causing unrest and blocking public roads.

Legal Procedures

After his arresting Aziz for 3 days, on January 18th, Aziz and Oussama Ben Mohammed were tried in the same case and sentenced to one-year imprisonment on the grounds of violating emergency state and joining a group aiming at causing unrest and blocking public roads.

Human Rights Violations

The malicious charges brought against Aziz Mlawah constitute a violation of the right to freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right protected by international laws and norms. In addition, the arbitrary arrests carried out by the police during that period mainly targeted youth in popular neighborhoods where the protests took place, with the aim of intimidating and terrorizing them, as well as transgressing their right to freedom of expression.

Sources

Intersection Association documented this case based on Aziz’s mother's statements to media outlets and social media posts of his friends.