Tunisia
Capital city — Tunis
Latest updates
Cumulative sentences have a limit
Aggregate sentences are common in crimes related to bad debt. Each instance of debt results in a separate accusation. Sentences can range from eight months to five years in prison.
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The Bizerte court of first instance authorised a man sentenced to 350 years of imprisonment to be placed in detention. The sentence was imposed as the result of several trials in absentia for fraud and writing bad cheques. Most of the convictions were ordered to be enforced immediately.
Number of deaths in custody
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A prisoner died in remand detention at Bizerte Prison. His family and his doctors had previously sounded the alarm regarding the state of his health. They criticised his imprisonment conditions.
All inmates are admitted to prison with a valid commitment order
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The Tunisian authorities were reported to use what they call assigned residences to conceal secret detentions on the pretext of a state of emergency. These so called “exceptional” measures had been increasing and were authorised under the state of emergency put in place in 2015. Fathi Beldi, former Interior Ministry employee, and Noureddine Bhiri, former justice minister, were both arrested in similar arbitrary circumstances}. Civil society organisations were concerned about the numerous law violations, including the lack of arrest warrants, the secrecy of where people would be detained and their contact with the outside world. Salsabil Chellali, director of Human Rights Watch, called for transparency from the authorities in 2022 and hoped ”to put an end to these arbitrary detentions”. She added, ”these violations undermine judicial power and further erode the principles of the rule of law.”
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Six members of the political opposition have been held prisoner for a year with no formal charges or trial. They started a hunger strike to denounce the situation. They issued a statement to communicate their claims and demand their immediate release.