ملخص
Summary:
Mohamed Walid Zaidi, a political activist of the Workers’ Party, has been imprisoned for reposting a post on his page containing the position of the Labour Party regarding the current political and economic situation in Tunisia.
Personal Information:
Name: Mohammed Walid Zeidi
Occupation: Political Activist
Case: Crimes stipulated in Article 24 of Decree No.54 on combatting crimes related to information and communication systems
Incidents of Violation:
Mohammed Walid Zeidi is a political activist in the Workers’ Party and comes from Kairouan governorate. Walid’s case dates back to December 2023, when he was arrested and investigated due to sharing a post from a media website that conveyed the position of the Workers’ Party on the economic situation, including a call to protest and boycott the 2022 parliamentary elections. After the investigation, he was released.
On 10th May, Mohammed Walid went to the police station in the Hajeb Laayoun area to obtain a national identification card. He was then informed that he was wanted due to an arrest warrant issued against him by the investigating judge after accusing him of the set of charges stipulated by Article 24 of Decree No. 54. However, he has not received any formal summons or notification that he was searched. According to Olfa Baazaoui, a member of the Central Committee of the Workers ‘ Party, the investigating judge released Walid Zeidi. Still, the public prosecution appealed the decision on the same day. Within hours, the Indictment Department of the Kairouan Court of Appeal issued an arrest warrant against the victim of the violation, who has been imprisoned for more than ten days. The violations did not stop at silencing and detaining him for expressing his opinion, they continued for several days as the victim’s brother sought to obtain a visitation permit but the family was prevented from visiting him. In addition, his lawyer also submitted a request through his secretary, but the authority to address these requests is currently unknown. According to the investigation judge’s office, the file has been referred to the indictment department of the Kairouan Court of Appeal.
His brother thereafter obtained a temporary visitation permit. Nonetheless, Walid remains behind bars without any scheduled hearing or developments in his case, meanwhile, he is deprived of his freedom, although freedom of speech is a constitutional right enjoyed by all Tunisian citizens.
Human Rights Violations:
The arrest and imprisonment of Mohamed Walid Zeidi because of a post are part of a series of human rights violations. Imprisoning people because of their opinions is a violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by Article 37 of the Tunisian constitution, which states that “Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information, and publication is guaranteed”. In addition, this constitutes a clear 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 freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.” Furthermore, the use of Decree No. 54 in all cases of opinion and portraying them as rumors and fake news only reflects the real intention of the authority to utilize this text to infringe upon rights and freedoms and harass citizens, especially since the victim of the violation shared a post from a media website that includes an official stance of a Tunisian political party.
It should be recalled that Decree No.54 issued on September 13, 2022, Article 24 in particular, imposes severe penalties leading to five years in prison as well as financial penalties, which are doubled if the case involves a public official. This jeopardizes freedom of opinion and expression and is considered a violation of the Tunisian state’s international obligations regarding freedom of opinion and expression. Especially since this text has become a preferred weapon for the authority, as it targets anyone who criticizes the situation, complains, or expresses his opinion on issues of public matters freely. Moreover, prolonging the legal proceedings while the victim of the violation remains in detention is a violation of their right to a fair trial, where they are treated justly and all their rights guaranteed by law are respected. Last, in addition to these violations, such trials, which specifically target political activists and imprison them based on their political activity, represent a restriction on the freedom of political action in Tunisia, the freedom of assembly, and seek to confiscate all opinions opposing and critical of the policy of the current regime.