Khaled Bouzayen

Summary

Khaled Bouzayen is a human rights and political activist who has been languishing in prison for more than two months because of posts he published on his personal Facebook page.

Personal Information

Name: Khaled Bouzayen

Nationality: Tunisian

Status: Political activist

Charges

Deliberately offending others or disturbing their peace through public telecommunications networks, under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code; committing a heinous act against the Head of State and conspiracy against the internal security of the State, under Articles 67 and 72 of the Penal Code.

Incidents of Violation

Khaled Bouzayen is a human rights and political activist who has been languishing in prison for more than two months. On 25 November 2022, Khaled was followed by three plain-clothes individuals who asked him to go with them, telling him that they were police officers without showing any proof of this. When Khaled refused their request, they uttered a series of threats and warnings and then left. The following day, an official summons was issued to "Khaled Bouzayen" by the judicial police brigade without stating the reason. When he went to ask about the reason for the summons, he was arrested and detained, and it later emerged that his arrest was because of posts he had published on his personal Facebook page criticising the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, and the ruling political system. According to his lawyer, Khaled was arrested under Decree-Law No. 54 of 2022 of 13 September 2022 on combating offences relating to information and communication systems. After his arrest, Khaled was brought before the investigating judge at the Court of First Instance of Le Kef, then held in custody and committed to prison. It emerged that the charges against Khaled included committing a heinous act against the Head of State and conspiracy against the internal security of the State, under Articles 67 and 72 of the Penal Code. From November, Khaled remained in prison for two months without the court scheduling a hearing for him or ruling on his case, despite a decision closing the investigation having been issued. Because of this, Khaled informed his lawyers and friends that he had decided to go on hunger strike if the court did not schedule a hearing and rule on his case as soon as possible. The court then scheduled a hearing, and according to the testimony of the victim's lawyer to Intersection Association, the judge sentenced him to two months in prison to be served, taking into account the time Khaled had already spent in prison. However, she considered that the ruling should have been a dismissal of the case, since the elements of the offence of which activist Khaled Bouzayen was accused were not present; the judge requalified the acts and sentenced Khaled to two months in prison on the grounds that he had committed the offence of offending others or disturbing their peace through public telecommunications networks under Article 86 of the Penal Code.

Trials

Khaled Bouzayen was arrested on 26 November 2022 after receiving a summons from the judicial police brigade without any reason being stated. He was then detained and brought before the investigating judge, and a committal warrant was issued against him. Despite the closure of the investigation, no hearing was scheduled for Khaled until late January 2023, when Khaled was tried on the charges brought against him, namely committing a heinous act against the Head of State and conspiracy against the internal security of the State under Articles 67 and 72 of the Penal Code. After the pleadings hearing, and once it became clear that the elements of the offences Khaled was accused of committing were not present, the acts were requalified and Khaled's conduct was deemed to fall under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code, "deliberately offending others or disturbing their peace through public telecommunications networks". The judge then sentenced Khaled to two months in prison, counted from the date of his committal to prison in November.

Human Rights Violations

Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms considers that the arrest of "Khaled Bouzayen", and other arrests and trials targeting activists and human rights defenders because of their opinions on issues of public concern, amount to a violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The Association also considers that what activist "Khaled Bouzayen" publishes falls within the exercise of his right to freedom of expression, which is constitutionally guaranteed and protected by international instruments. Trying or imprisoning people because of their opinions is a clear violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 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", and a breach of Article 37, which states: "Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information and publication shall be guaranteed. No prior censorship may be exercised over these freedoms."

Sources

This case was documented on the basis of the testimony of the lawyer of the victim of the violation, Khaled Bouzayen, and the testimony of his friend and family members to Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms.