Following the arbitrary transfer of Me Abir Moussi, president of the Parti Destourien Libre (PDL) and political prisoner on wild hunger strike since February 12, 2025, and of Ms. Saadia Mosbah, human rights activist, from Manouba prison (near Tunis) to Beli prison (Nabeul governorate), the Comité pour le Respect des Libertés et des Droits de l'Homme en Tunisie (CRLDHT) condemns in the strongest possible terms these abusive practices, which violate prisoners' fundamental rights.
The CRLDHT denounces
- The prison administration's failure to comply with court rulings, in flagrant violation of the detention orders, which specify that the two prisoners are to be held provisionally at Manouba prison.
- The infringement of their right to a fair trial, with pre-trial detention being diverted from its legal purpose and transformed into an early sanction, imposed by the prison administration under the authority of the Minister of Justice.
- Violation of their rights as persons deprived of their liberty, contrary to Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Nelson Mandela Rules (United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners).
- Obstructing their fundamental rights in detention, in particular the right to receive family visits, as well as food and clothing, guaranteed by article 18 of law n°52-2011 on the organization of prisons.
The CRLDHT sees these measures as further proof of the arbitrary, political and methodical nature of the prosecution of the opposition and civil society.
The current regime is using the justice system to stifle the opposition and mask its unpopularity, illegitimacy and abject failure to meet the economic and social challenges facing the Tunisian people.
The CRLDHT calls on all democratic forces and human rights defenders to mobilize against these repressive practices and to demand an end to political prosecutions and the immediate release of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
