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Student Bilel Habhab Arrested for Pro-Palestine Tag: Criminalization of Expressions of Solidarity in Public Space

On Thursday, May 8, 2025, officers at the National Security Center in Soliman Riadh arrested student Bilel Habhab, an activist within the General Union of Tunisian Students (UGET) and a student at the Higher School of Health Sciences and Technologies, for writing a tag calling for a boycott of the Carrefour chain of stores on the walls of one of its branches in Ben Arous Governorate. The arrest stems from the activist’s action based on what he considered the institution’s direct support for the occupying entity in the context of the ongoing aggression against Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.
 
Bilel was taken to the police station where he was interrogated before his case was referred to the Public Prosecutor at the Grombalia Court of First Instance. He is expected to appear before the Public Prosecutor on Friday, May 9, 2025, on charges that have not yet been officially announced, but are likely related to defamation, causing public disorder, or damaging private property.

Peaceful Expression Turns into Persecution

Bilel Habhab wrote a slogan on the wall of a Carrefour branch expressing his rejection of the company’s stance on the Palestinian cause. He asserted that his action was a conscious, morally, and politically responsible act in the face of what he described as “global silence” regarding the crimes committed against civilians in Gaza.
 
In a lengthy post, the student expressed his adherence to boycott as a legitimate tool for people to confront occupation and colonialism. He emphasized that his writing on the wall was a symbolic act stemming from the absence of media platforms and the ability to express themselves freely, and not out of vandalism or damaging property.

Serious Criminalization of a Symbolic Act in the Context of Solidarity

The Freedom for Tunisia Observatory asserts that the arrest and prosecution of student Bilel Habhab for his symbolic expression of support for Palestine constitutes a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of expression and solidarity, especially in the absence of any actual harm or violence accompanying the act in question.
 
The Observatory believes that turning this act into a criminal case reflects a trend toward criminalizing expressions of solidarity and political expression in the public sphere. This contradicts the Tunisian state’s obligations under Articles 22 and 37 of the Tunisian Constitution and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantee the right to freedom of expression, peaceful demonstration, and solidarity with people’s causes.
 
The Freedom for Tunisia Observatory condemns the arrest of student Bilel Habhab and demands the immediate dropping of the charges against him. It reminds judicial and security authorities of the need to respect the peaceful and political nature of the act and refrain from using punitive laws against symbolic acts related to human rights and just causes.
 
The Observatory also calls for:
  • An end to the policy of systematic criminalization of forms of expression related to just causes.
  • Respecting citizens’ right to peaceful expression in the public sphere.
  • Protecting student activists from harassment and arbitrary arrests.
The Observatory reiterates its principled position rejecting the use of the judiciary and security forces to silence youth voices, particularly those clearly aligned with just causes that enjoy broad popular consensus, such as the Palestinian cause.

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Call to Action

Website petition: Freedom for prisoners of conscience and activists in Tunisia!

Tunisia is no longer the Arab exception that inspired the world in 2011 with a heroic revolution that overthrew the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who ruled for nearly 23 years after seizing power on November 7, 1987, in a coup against Habib Bourguiba.

In a similar and perhaps more dangerous move, on the night of July 25, 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied carried out a “constitutional coup” in accordance with his personal interpretation of Article 80 of the 2014 Revolutionary Constitution, announcing that he had taken a set of exceptional measures due to the “imminent danger” that threatens Tunisia without providing any details or reasons.

In accordance with these measures, Saied dismissed the government and the prime minister Hichem Mechichi who was present at the National Security Council that night at the Carthage Palace, and claimed that he had contacted the Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi (leader of the Ennahdha party) to consult with him in accordance with what is stipulated by the constitution, a claim which Ghannouchi denied since the call was general and did not include anything about exceptional measures or any consultation on the matter. The president suspended Parliament and later dissolved it in March 2022.

Not only did Saied seek to bypass his powers and the articles of the Constitution, which he swore to protect before the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, but he went on to dismiss and change the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council after redefining the judiciary it as a “function” rather than an independent authority. He further replaced members of the Supreme Electoral Commission in preparation for the referendum he held in order to vote on a constitution that he wrote himself after dismissing the proposals of the drafting committee he had himself appointed. Then legislative elections were held over two rounds, in which the participation rate did not exceed 8% of the total number of voters, with the Election Commission later announcing that it had reached 11%, which is the lowest participation rate in Tunisia and globally.

On February 11, President Saied’s regime launched a campaign of protests that has not stopped since, against political leaders, media figures, journalists, judges and senior officials and civil servants, for charges of “conspiring against the security of the state and committing an offensive act against the President of the Republic,” in addition to other charges that were referred to the military prosecution, leading one to wonder about the implication of the Tunisian army in the actions taken by Saied.

The arbitrary arrests were marred by several procedural violations amid criticism from prominent international organizations and observatories in the field of human rights. The standards of litigation and detention period and conditions were not respected. Prosecution and harassment sometimes extended to the detainees’ families, and no evidence, and in many cases, no charges against them were presented.

Moreover trade unions and political parties continue to be subjected to constant harassment and restrictions. Saied continues to target all “intermediary bodies” accusing them of “collaboration” or “treason”. Civil society associations have also been subjected to prosecution, arbitrary arrests and deprivation from representation, in a context of of increasing violence in society due to the authorities’ adoption of racist and discriminatory speeches and rhetoric inciting infighting and violating human dignity.

In light of the above, we, the undersigned, demand the following:

Call for the immediate release of all political detainees, immediately and unconditionally. We also urge the Tunisian authorities to recognize the national and the international human rights treaties they have ratified.
Call on the Tunisian authorities to stop dismantling the nascent democracy and put an end to unfair trials and prosecutions against political opponents of the regime and anyone who criticises it.
Call on all activists and observers to join the national movement for restoring democracy and ending authoritarian rule that has taken Tunisia back to despotism, injustice, and violations of rights and freedoms.