RSF TRANSFER REQUEST TRIAL OF BLOGGER YASSINE AYARI TOWARD CIVIL COURTS

On the eve of the judgment on appeal of blogger Yassine Ayari, February 24, 2015, before a military court, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced again the condemnation of civilian by a military court.
Following a first sentenced to three years in prison in absentia for insulting the army on November 18, 2014, Yassine Ayari had his sentence reduced to one year in prison, in the judgment of his case on appeal to a military court Jan. 6, 2015.
Having appealed this decision, the blogger will appear before military courts on Tuesday 24th February. In the light of this new audience, RSF reiterates its call for a transfer of the trial to the civil courts, ensuring accountability and impartiality.
"Freedom of expression and information are the main achievements of popular uprisings that have occurred in Tunisia in 2011, it is extremely damaging to undermine these core values, choosing to judge for reasons" tote "a civilian before military courts," recalls Lucie Morillon, director of Reporters Without Borders programs.
The organization said that Yassine Ayari should be tried in accordance with international standards of fair trial guaranteed by Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and assumed by the new Tunisian constitution in articles 31, 32 and 49.
Furthermore, the United Nations Human Rights Committee in its General Comment No. 34 of July 2011, attaches particular importance to the unfettered expression on public figures of politics and public institutions, including the critical institutions such as the army or the administration.