Jawhar ben Mbarek sentenced to six months in prison

The Tunis Court of First Instance has sentenced leader of the National Salvation Front, Jawhar Ben Mbarek, to six months in prison in connection with a case brought by the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE). This was revealed by Samir Dilou, a member of the Defence Committee, in a statement to TAP on Saturday. Earlier in the day, the Committee for the Defence of Detainees on charges of conspiracy against the State announced that a complaint had been filed against Jawhar Ben Mbarek for statements in which he described the 2022 parliamentary elections as "a coup, a parody, rather than a political deadline.» In the same statement, the Defence Committee added that the Public Prosecutor's Office had referred the case to the Criminal Division of the Tunis Court of First Instance, in accordance with the provisions of Decree-Law No. 54 of September 13, 2022 on combating offences related to information and communication systems. Dilou said the court's decision constitutes "a clear and blatant violatio n of the rights of the defence", as the court did not hear the arguments of the lawyers who had requested a postponement of the hearing due to the "critical" state of health of their client, who is on hunger strike along with the other defendants involved in the case. In the wake of this verdict, Dalila Ben Mbarek Msaddek, Jawhar Ben Mbarek's sister and a member of the defence committee, announced in a video she posted on social media that she would also be going on a "wildcat" hunger strike in protest at the court's verdict. Jawhar Ben Mbarek has been detained since February 2023 on charges of "conspiring against state security". Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse