Mohamed Hedi Sassi was reportedly arrested on 18 April 1994 and tortured during incommunicado detention in Bardo Police Station in Tunis. He is charged with belonging to the unauthorized Tunisian Workers’ Communist Party (PCOT), distributing unauthorized leaflets and writing slogans on the walls. He had previously been sentenced in absentia to 18 months’ imprisonment on similar charges, and was in hiding. He has denied all the charges. His defence lawyer has confirmed that bruises and marks were still visible more than a week after his arrest, and in addition Mohamed Sassi has complained of loss of hearing in one ear after being beaten by a truncheon. He is a prisoner of conscience.
