المصادر: التواصل مع محامي ضحية الانتهاك الأستاذ سمير بن عمر بتاريخ 07 ماي 2024

Summary

Lassaad Bouazizi is a Tunisian citizen who was imprisoned and charged with several charges for publishing a post in which he wrote: “Down with the regime.”

Personal Information

Name: Lasad Bouazizi

Occupation: Blogger and Political Activist

Case: Deliberate assault to replace the state entity or incite the population to attack each other with weapons, to cause commotion, murder, and looting on Tunisian soil per Article 72 of the Penal Code.

Incidents of Violation

On April 16, 2024, political activist Lasaad Bouazizi was arrested at his home in Sidi Bouzid governorate by the local investigation team. According to the victim of the violation’s lawyer, the arrest was related to a post he had published on his Facebook page, in which he stated: “Down with the regime.”  His entire house was searched and his laptop was confiscated without presenting any judicial authorization as confirmed by his defense. Many charges were brought against Saad Bouazizi, whereby he was investigated leading to issuing an arrest warrant against him following Article 24 of Decree No.54 and other articles of the Penal Code. The victim of the violation was later referred to under Article 72 of the Penal Code, which stipulates that “Anyone who commits an assault intended to replace the state entity or incite the population to attack each other with weapons, cause a commotion, murder and looting on Tunisian soil shall be sentenced to death”. Subsequently, he was detained after closing the investigation and according to the lawyer, they are still waiting for a hearing to be scheduled to consider the case

Human Rights Violations

The case of citizen Lasaad Bouazizi includes several human rights violations, as his imprisonment and prosecution to justice because of a post containing a political slogan represent an infringement on his civil and political rights, particularly his right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the Tunisian constitution under Article 37, which states that “Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, media, and publication is guaranteed”. In addition, Article 22 of the Constitution, states that the state guarantees citizens individual and public rights and freedoms, and provides them with the means to live with dignity.” Furthermore, it constitutes an explicit violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that” Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”

Moreover, the referral of the victim of the violation under Article 72 of the Penal Code because of a post containing a political slogan represents a restriction on the freedom of political activity. This is in addition to the unjust penalties stipulated in this legal text that lead to the death penalty, which is rejected and condemned as it represents a violation of the right to life as well as to dimensions. Such charges and trials can only have a negative impact on the human rights situation in Tunisia as they instill fear and terror among citizens in order to silence and prevent them from freely expressing their opinions

Sources

Communication with the victim’s lawyer, Attorney Samir Ben Amor on May 7, 2024