Press release
Geneva – May 2, 2024
Shukri Al-Tabeyeb, former dean of Tunisian lawyers and ex-president of the National Anti-Corruption Authority, announced a hunger strike and open sit-in at the Lawyers’ House in Tunis on Tuesday, April 30th, 2024, citing continued arbitrary targeting by authorities.
Al-Tabeyeb disclosed being under house arrest with a travel ban, facing fabricated legal cases aimed at tarnishing his reputation and draining him mentally and financially. He also highlighted ongoing defamation campaigns against him and his family through unregulated platforms despite numerous complaints filed.
His decision to strike protests against “continued assaults and harassment on lawyers to undermine defense rights and the independence of the legal profession,” including the rejection by authorities of requests from the Arab Lawyers Union and the International Bar Association acting on behalf of the Palestinian people to lift travel restrictions for his work at the International Criminal Court.
The Committee for Justice (CFJ) expresses solidarity with Al-Tabeyeb in his hunger strike and sit-in, deeming it a fundamental human right, and condemns Tunisia’s ongoing arbitrary actions against him, urging their cessation and the provision of a safe and conducive environment for his professional and legal work
