Tunis: Release of human rights defender Zakia Dhifaoui

Front Line welcomes the release of human rights defender Zakia Dhifaoui,member of the Kairouan section of the Ligue tunisienne des droits de l'Homme (Tunisian League of Human Rights)(LTDH), on the 5th of November 2008. Zakia Dhifaoui was released under a Presidential amnesty.

Further Information

On 27 July 2008, Zakia Dhifaoui was arrested at the home of imprisoned trade unionist Adnan Hajji, having participated in a peaceful demonstration there earlier that morning. Mme Dhifaoui appeared before the Gafsa correctional court on 31 July 2008, accused of 'causing damage to private property, attacking public morals, participating in a gathering of more than ten people, assault of a civil servant, throwing of solid materials and causing unrest in a public space. In the course of the hearing, Zakia Dhifaoui alleged that she had been subjected to sexual harassment and threatened with rape by a police official whose name is known to Front Line, and that while being subjected to such threats, was forced to sign a document whose content was unknown to her. The petition of the defence to register these declarations was rejected by the judge, who adjourned the hearing until 14 August 2008 On 14th of August 2008, the court in the central city of Gafsa convicted and sentenced Zakia Dhifaoui to eight months in prison . She was convicted of disrupting public order, engaging in civil disobedience and attacking good moral standards, among other charges, it said.

On 15th of September 2008, Gafsa Court of Appeal sentenced Mrs Zakia Dhifaoui,to four and a half months’ imprisonment for her part in a peaceful demonstration in support of the inhabitants of the Redeyef mining district.