The defence collective of Abir Moussi, detained since October 3, 2023, revealed that she will be referred to the criminal chamber of the Court of First Instance of Tunis, for a hearing, this Monday, July 22, 2024.
The defence team clarified, in a press release, that “Abir Moussi will be prosecuted by the first paragraph of chapter 24 of Decree No. 54 of 2022, following a complaint lodged against her by the High Independent Authority for Elections, based on her political statements during a protest movement organized by the Free Destourian Party in January 2023, in which she voiced her rejection of the transgressions which marred the conduct of the legislative elections.
It was also decided to direct Moussi to the Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance of Tunis, following another complaint filed by the Independent High Authority for Elections against her following political words during a conference organized by the party. in November 2022 to declare its position opposed to the conduct of the legislative elections.
The defence added: “Under the aforementioned referrals, Abir Moussi faces a sentence of five (05) years in the first case and ten (10) years in the second case. And this, is just because she exerted her right of expression and fulfilled her duty as leader of an opposition political party to notify public opinion of the grave violations that happened during the legislative electoral process,” according to the text of the communication.
In its press release, the defense collective expressed its “regrets in the face of the judicial harassment and political violence directed against Moussa simply because she adhered to her right to think, expression and belonging to a party and exerted its duty to oppose policies that have led to the failure of government.”
The collective also warned of “the danger that the judicial establishment abandons its constitutional duty to protect rights and freedoms against violations and restrictions that drain them of their essence and exploits them to restrict the freedom of citizens based on an unconstitutional decree which breaks international treaties ratified by the Tunisian state and has not been submitted to the approval of an elected parliament.
The Defense collective also announced that it had “filed an appeal before the Administrative Court to contest the decision to decline to present sponsorship forms based on the meaning of chapter 46 and what follows of Basic Law No. 16 of 2014 relating to elections and referendums, in the context of candidacy conflicts, given that the procedure for obtaining the popular recommendation form is part of the candidacy procedures and must be registered within the deadlines established by the electoral law.
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