Tunisia: Dr. Sadek Chourou Released

Alkarama was just informed that the 63-year-old Tunisian prisoner of opinion Dr. Sadek Chourou was released by the Tunisian authorities on 30 October 2010, after twenty years imprisonment in various Tunisian jails.

The Tunisian authorities sentenced him to life imprisonment, which they then reduced to 18 years, the bulk of which he spent in solitary confinement. He was released on 5 November 2008 on completion of his sentence and barely a month after his release; he was re-arrested and sentenced to two more years' imprisonment in an unfair trial founded on a baseless charge. This further illustrated the Tunisian authorities' contempt for basic human rights.

Alkarama sent Dr. Chourou's case to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on 19 December 2008 following his re-arrest, and later sent a second letter to the Working Group on 9 September 2009 urging them to intervene with the Tunisian authorities for his release. However, the Tunisian authorities did not respect their international obligations, instead choosing to continue to suppressing him and other prisoners of opinion.

While Alkarama is pleased by Dr. Sadek Chourou's release, it also urges the Tunisian authorities to stop suppressing basic freedoms and release all prisoners of opinion, and to respect all its international obligations in the sphere of human rights.