human rights defender

Jawher Ben Mbarek

© Diwan Fm

Organization affiliation

  • Dostourna

HRD's year of birth

1968

HRD's Gender

Man

Type of HRD

  • Academic

HRD's thematic area of engagement

  • Civil and political rights
  • Economic, social and cultural rights

HRD's geographical origin

Urban

Current Status

In prison (sentenced)

HRD's bio and work

Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, born in 1968 in Sfax, Tunisia, is a professor of constitutional law and a political activist. He founded the political movement Dostourna and co-founded the “Citizens Against the Coup” initiative, also playing a key role in the National Salvation Front.

Detained since

Feb 24, 2024

Charge(s)

  • Spreading fake news
  • Terrorism

Sentence

On April 18, 2025, the Fifth Criminal Division, specializing in terrorism, at the Court of First Instance of Tunis, issued an 18-year prison sentence in the Conspiracy case. He was also sentenced to 5 months in another case under Decree 54.

Latitude: 36.689697983004635

Longitude: 9.940252575944783

Geolocation of detention

Country or area of detention

Region of detention

  • Africa: Northern Africa

Location of detention - City/Town

Borj El Amri

Location of detention - Facility

Prison de Borj El Amri

Recent case update / evolution

On February 25, 2023, Jawher was charged with forming an alliance to change the structure of the state and conspiring against its internal and external security. After the investigation, the investigating judge issued a detention order against him, and he was escorted to the prison of Mornaguia.

On February 2024, he was not taken to the courtroom, and the trial was conducted without his presence and a first instance order was issued for his imprisonment.

The trial sessions were scheduled to start on March 4, 2025, and the judicial authorities decided that the session would be held remotely, which Ben Mubarak refused, leading him to boycott the session.

The session was then postponed to April 11, 2025. However, the authorities insisted on holding the session remotely, prompting Ben Mubarak to start a hunger strike in protest on March 29, 2025.

On April 11, 2025, the Criminal Chamber specializing in terrorism cases decided to postpone the trial to April 18, 2025, and Ben Mubarak was subsequently sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Any other relevant documents

Jaouhar Ben Mbarek: when politics becomes a crime that needs punishment. Link: https://intersection.uno/en/%d8%ac%d9%88%d9%87%d8%b1-%d8%a8%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%83-%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%86%d9%85%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%a8%d8%ad-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d8%ac%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%a9/

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