Mazen Abdellaoui

Summary

During a protest held by the General Union of Tunisian Students (UGET), a Tunisian student union, outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research on 15 December 2021 in support of a series of demands concerning the student community, the protest was suppressed by police forces, who violently assaulted those present. Among them was activist Mazen Abdellaoui, who was beaten and detained at the Bab Souika police station without any valid reason.

Personal Information

Name: Mazen Abdellaoui

Nationality: Tunisian

Status: Activist in the General Union of Tunisian Students and student at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Tunis

Incidents of Violation

During a protest on 15 December 2021 outside the Ministry of Higher Education, activist Mazen Abdellaoui was arrested and beaten by police forces and forcibly taken to the Bab Souika police station. He was also beaten in the vehicle and held for more than four hours without being informed of the reason for his arrest. In addition, the police refused to open an official record of the incident or to register a complaint until the lawyers arrived; the lawyers were initially prevented from meeting the detainees, and they then demanded that a record be opened and that the detainees be heard.

Charges

Assaulting security officers and uttering insulting words towards the security forces.

Legal Procedures

Activist Mazen Abdellaoui was arrested on Wednesday 15 December 2021. He was then released and notified to appear before the Public Prosecutor on Tuesday 21 December 2021, where he was asked a few questions about what had happened during the protest and was then left without being informed of the further measures that would be taken against him.

Human Rights Violations

Violation of the right to demonstrate and violation of the right to freedom of expression, both provided for in the Constitution and international instruments, and failure to respect Law No. 5 amending and supplementing the Code of Criminal Procedure, which grants a detained person the right to contact a lawyer and to be informed of the reason for their arrest.

Sources

In this documentation, Intersection Association relied on a telephone call with activist Mazen Abdellaoui, the victim of the violation, on 24 December 2021; a call with his lawyer, Sahar Arbi; an interview with a student activist who was present at the protest on the evening of 15 December 2021; and video footage uploaded during the protest documenting the use of tear gas and beatings.