المصادر:

قامت جمعية تقاطع من أجل الحقوق والحريات بتوثيق هذه الحالة بعد تواصلها مع محامي ضحية الانتهاك الأستاذ نافع العريبي بتاريخ 16 أفريل 2024.

Summary:

Mariem Sassi is a Tunisian political activist and leader in the Free Constitutional Party. She was arrested by the 5th Brigade of L’Aouina for investigation under Article 20 of Decree No.54 related to Combating Cybercrimes. Consequently, she has been in prison since last March.

Personal Information: 

Name: Mariem Sassi

Age: 33

Nationality: Tunisian

Occupation: Leader in the Free Constitutional Party

Charge: Article 20 of Decree No.54: Intentionally, without lawful justification, hindering the operation of an information system by entering, sending, damaging, changing, canceling, or destroying data or using any other electronic means.

Incidents of Violation:

Maryam Sassi is a political activist within the Free Constitutional Party. Her case dates back to October 2023, when she was referred to the judiciary based on her management of her party’s social media pages. It was decided to postpone her resignation to October 16, 2023, and upon that date, she was heard and kept in a state of release. 

On March 7, 2024, Mariam Sassi was arrested, and after investigating her, the public prosecution decided to keep her for 48 hours pending investigation. Upon the expiration of the period, her detention was extended for another 24 hours at the Bouchoucha Detention Center. Subsequently, a hearing was scheduled for March 14, 2024, to present her before the Criminal Chamber of the First Instance Court in Tunis. Later, an arrest warrant was issued, resulting in her imprisonment at the Civil Prison in Manouba while she was awaiting the judiciary’s verdict. On Thursday, April 18, the request for Mariam’s release was rejected, and she was kept in prison, with the case being postponed until May 2, 2024.

Human Rights Violations:

Mariam Sassi’s arrest and presentation before the judiciary comes under Article 20 of Decree No.54, which stipulates a penalty of up to three years and a fine of thirty thousand dinars for anyone who deliberately and unlawfully impedes the functioning of an information system by entering, sending, damaging, changing, canceling, or destroying data or using any other electronic means.

This is an unprecedented case where another article related to Decree No. 54 is used, contrary to Article 24. The two articles are similar in terms of quality and purpose, as they only aim at imposing further control and provisions restricting freedom, especially in such a context, as well as under the political climate that Tunisia has been witnessing for a while. The actions that have been attributed to the victim of the violation do not require arrest, imprisonment, or prolongation of the period of the review of her file. Therefore, Mariem’s one-month arrest under pre-trial detention constitutes a violation of her right to a fair trial and punishment due to her political activity.

Source:

Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms documented this case after communicating with the victim’s lawyer, Attorney Nafaa Laaribi, on April 16, 2024.