Chaima Issa

Chaima Issa, a political activist and leading figure in the Salvation Front, has since 2022 faced multiple prosecutions over media statements in which she criticised the Tunisian army and the policies pursued by the President of the Republic in running the country’s affairs. She was arrested on 22 February 2023 and banned from travelling, and was charged with inciting disobedience to military orders, committing an odious act against the President of the Republic, and spreading false rumours via information networks with the aim of harming public security and national defence. During this period she spent about five months in prison (she was released on 13 July 2023), during which she was subjected to numerous violations and harassment. According to her testimony to Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms, the main violations consisted of her being denied the most basic rights, such as healthy food and hygienic personal care, as well as severe overcrowding in the prison. She added that she was subjected to repeated harassment in prison and to thorough, humiliating body searches that violate human dignity. She also spoke of the profound psychological and moral impact this prison experience has had on her, and on her social life, her work and her family.