On December 2, 2025, Maître Ayachi Hammami, lawyer, tireless activist, and leading figure in Tunisia's democratic struggles, was arrested in Tunis. This arrest comes less than 24 hours after that of feminist activist Chaïma Issa during a peaceful demonstration, and follows the recent decision of the criminal division of the anti-terrorism unit in the so-called "conspiracy" case. This verdict, handed down at the end of a summary, politically motivated trial that lacked basic guarantees of justice, confirms the ongoing authoritarian drift.

For more than thirty years, Ayachi Hamami has embodied the relentless defense of the rule of law, the fight against arbitrariness, and the daily struggle for civil liberties. Until the very moment before his arrest, he was on the streets alongside Tunisians demanding freedom, justice, and dignity.

In a video posted before his arrest, Hammami denounced a "purely political" decision and announced that he would immediately begin a hunger strike to protest the systematic criminalization of the opposition and the proliferation of political trials. He describes a strategy based on fear, stigmatization, and the fabrication of internal enemies in order to impose silence and neutralize any dissenting voices.

This repressive rush forward comes at a time when the authorities are failing to respond to the profound economic, social, and political crises facing Tunisia. Rather than listening to the legitimate demands of the population, the government is resorting to intimidation, targeted arrests, and unfounded accusations of "terrorism" against its opponents.

The CRLDHT :

• Condemns in the strongest termsthis escalation of repression, which is contrary to the most basic principles of the rule of law.
• Reaffirms its absolute solidaritywith Maître Ayachi Hammami, Chaïma Issa, and all prisoners of conscience, victims of a system that seeks to transform their suffering into a show of strength, revealing in reality its weakness and failure.
• Calls on all Tunisians, as well as all democratic forces, trade unions, associations, and citizens, to mobilize massively, peacefully, and continuously. Indignation must be transformed into action: defending freedoms, protecting rights, and refusing to allow the future to be confiscated.

Tunisia deserves better than fear, isolation, and arbitrariness.
It deserves justice, freedom, dignity, and hope.

Silence is not an option.
Mobilization is a duty.