Tunisia: Opposition Figure Arbitrarily Detained

Abir Moussi (48) is a lawyer and the president of the Free Destourian Party (PDL) and a prominent opposition figure to President Kais Saied. She was a member of the Parliament from 2019 to 2021. According to her lawyers, Abir Moussi’s health is deteriorating in detention and may continue to worsen after she started a hunger strike on 28 November.

On 5 October, Abir Moussi was interrogated by an investigative judge at the Tunis Court of First Instance under charges of seeking to “change the form of government”, "inciting violence on the Tunisian territory”, and “attack with the aim of provoking disorder” under Article 72 of the Penal Code, and “processing of personal data without the consent of the data subject” and “interference with the freedom to work” under Articles 27 and 87 of the Data Protection Law. She now faces the death penalty under Article 72 of the Penal Code for peacefully exercising her rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association. 

On 25 July 2021, President Saied claimed emergency powers that he said were granted to him by Tunisia's 2014 Constitution. Since February 2023, the Human Rights situation in Tunisia has been rapidly deteriorating as several opposition figures have been targeted. Authorities opened criminal investigations against at least 74 opposition figures and other perceived enemies of the president, including at least 44 people accused of crimes in connection with the peaceful exercise of their human rights. This crackdown on opposition threatens human rights including the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in Tunisia, rights protected under Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Tunisia is a state party.