Police Carck Down On Cannabis Users In Tunisia Whilst Leaving “big dealers benefiting from the’ impunity” says media report

Din the last few months, cannabis users have been facing a new wave of repression, accompanied by large-scale violations of the PHYSICAL integrity of those arrested and their rights to fair justice. The big dealers benefit from the’ impunity, alert Nawres Zoghbi Douzi, coordinator of the Alliance for Security and Freedoms (ASL) and Wael Zarrouk, the group defending the legalization of cannabis. These retaliations mainly targeting consumers « this’ is never seen since the days of Ben Ali », loose Zarrouk.

People are locked up for the simple holding of’a rolling sheet or’a cardboard filter (cala) in a pack of cigarettes, says the representative of’ASL. This alliance brings together several civil society organisations working for the defence of human rights. It provides legal aid to persons wrongfully detained under the narcotics Act 52 of 1992.

This campaign of « lynching » consumers touches all social categories. And it also does not’ exclude young people with a clean criminal record, stresses Zoghbi Douzi.  L’ASL supports defendants aged between 16 and 35 years, and who do not’as have a lawyer.

POLICE ABUSES

The arrests lead in their wake to a lot of police violence. They occur as a result of arbitrary searches on public roads. Police officers are also raiding houses. « Facies control with regard to certain young people is sometimes enough to base a presumption of guilt followed by’an incarceration », denounces the representative of’ASL.

Decree-law 54 on combating offences relating to’ information and communication systems has opened a gap to more police overruns. « The latter seize the phones of suspected people to seek to indict them », reveals Zoghbi Douzi.

Cannabis en Tunisie : Consommateurs face à la nouvelle répression