On July 13, 2023, a demonstration was organized in front of the Tunis Court of Appeal to call for the independence of a justice system that Kaïes Saïed uses to neutralize his opponents and critics, and to demand the release of political prisoners imprisoned for the past five months. On the same day, Chaïma Issa, an activist with the Salvation Front and the first political prisoner after the revolution, and Lazhar Akremi, a courageous critic of K. Saïed's authoritarian decisions, were released. However, their release was accompanied by a ban on travel and public appearances, presumably to prevent them from testifying to the false nature of the "plot against State security" dossier.
On her release from prison, Chaïma Issa issued a statement, a veritable urgent appeal to the Tunisian people, and in particular to its lifeblood. She calls for:
- the rejection of hatred and the primal desire for vengeance, of the propagation of division and division, in other words, of everything that underpins the populist presidential discourse that K. Saïed is trying to entrench in Tunisian society in order to maintain his power.
- to the unity of civil and political forces in order to obtain the release of political prisoners who have done nothing but oppose K. Saïed's anti-democratic measures and demand the restoration of the democratic path interrupted since July 25, 2021.
It considers that K. Saïed has not only deviated from the democratic course and aggravated the political crisis, but has also accentuated the acute economic and social crisis which today threatens the population on a daily basis due to inflation on an unprecedented scale and shortages of raw materials which are paralyzing many economic sectors.
Chaïma Issa also spoke of the moral crisis the country is going through, referring to the shameful attitude of the authorities towards African immigrants, the official position having nothing to envy to the rhetoric of the extreme right when it evokes the "plot to modify the demographic composition of Tunisia and attempt to change its Arab-Islamic identity".
Violating immigrants, attacking their property, pushing them back into the desert without food or shelter are nothing short of crimes against humanity.
In recounting her prison experience, she also spoke of the injustices suffered by women in ordinary prisons, whether in terms of harsh and sometimes unjust sentences, or mistreatment and lack of respect for their dignity and rights.
Finally, she expressed her gratitude and appreciation to the Defense Committee for "rescuing her from the prison monster" and defending her before and during her arrest.
The CRLDHT supports the activist Chaïma's position on the need to mobilize all forces to free all political prisoners. In turn, it expresses its deep gratitude to the Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners, which has demonstrated their innocence and revealed the vacuity of the prosecution file, its strange contradictions and the many transgressions that accompanied their arrest and imprisonment, all courageous and honorable positions that history will remember.
