Political trials run counter to international standards of fair hearings, a number of civil society organisations said in a statement released Wednesday.
They undermine public trust in State institutions and their ability to find effective solutions to the ongoing deterioration of the economic and social situation across the country. They also harm Tunisia’s reputation, they added.
Signatories decried the criminalisation of the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and accusations of treason brought against the President of the Republic’s opponents, including former president Moncef Marzouki.
Political parties and lobbies that undermined the reform process in Tunisia are taking the full benefit of policy and communication errors made by the Presidency of the Republic for more than three months now.
The Tunisian Association for the Defense of Individual Liberties, Yakadha Association for Democracy and Civil State, the Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia, the Tunis Centre for Press Freedom, the Democratic Transition and Human Rights Support Centre and the Organisation Against Torture in Tunisia are among the fourteen signatories.
Source: Tap News Agency