Tunisia-Human rights organisations denounce “judicial harassment” in Emna Chargui case

Human rights organisations have affirmed their support for blogger Emna Chargui and denounced the “judicial harassment” against her.

In a joint statement issued, the signatories, including the Tunisian League for Human Rights and the Higher Committee for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, expressed their rejection of all attempts to restrict freedoms guaranteed by the constitution.

The blogger appeared on Wednesday before the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Tunis court of First Instance over violation of the sacred, the signatories regret.

They said the Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated the complaint after the blogger re-posted the text “perceived as an imitation of the Quranic text.

The Prosecutor’s Office would have done better to prosecute those who wage defamatory campaigns and accuse the blogger of blasphemy, the same source said.

In their statement, the organisations express concern about attempts to muzzle voices and control the virtual space under the pretext of protecting the sacred, which evoke inquisition courts.

The signatories also question the eagerness of the prosecutor’s office to take up the case of the blogger, which they fear could mark the beginning of the restriction of online freedoms, especially after the failure to push through legislative initiatives to control social media and the trouble bloggers have been getting into for suspecting corruption.

Other signatories include the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, Euromed Rights, the Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights, the Tunisian Organisation Against Torture, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists and the Tunisian Association for the Rights of the Child.