Tunisia: 2 years since Mohammed Abbou's arrest, and now the sentencing of Mohammed al-Fourati

A briefing sent out by IFEX this morning notes that two years have passed since lawyer Mohammed Abbou was arrested for criticizing the Tunisian government. The IFEX briefing also notes that a journalist, Mohammed al-Fourati, was sentenced in absentia to 14 months for "belonging to an unlicensed association and collecting money without permission" after having been charged and found innocent for this "crime" four times in the past.

Here is the content of the IFEX report:

Tunisia was condemned locally and externally last week during the marking
of the 2nd anniversary of Mohammed Abbou's imprisonment. The same scenario
is repeated this week with journalists Mohammed Al-Fourati who was
sentenced in absentia to one year and 2 months imprisonment for belonging
to an unlicensed association and collecting money without permission. This
is one of the methods that the Tunisian regime resorts to. This is the
fifth time that the court looks into this case after he was found innocent
four times before reaching the court of cessation where the sentence was
passed.

The phenomenon of torture and violence in Tunisian prisons and outside of
them

The National Council for Liberties issued two statements this week
monitoring the phenomenon of violence practiced by the Tunisian government.
The first statement reveals police surrounding the National Council for
Liberties and attacking journalists in an attempt to prevent them from
attending a press conference held in cooperation with Reprieve. The
statement also dealt with the suffering of Mohammed Abbou's wife and his
daughter when they were trying to visit him in prison. The second statement
exposes the violent attack on prisoners in al-Karaka prison when they were
attacked by an order from the prison administration. The Council at the end
of the statement expresses its concern of the return of the phenomenon of
torture and violence in Tunisian prisons.

Sources
The National Council for Liberties in Tunisia
The National Observatory for Press Freedom, Publication, and Creativity -
Tunisia
For more information in Arabic, please visit: http://www.hrinfo.net/tunisia

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