Tunisia's Court of Cassation on Monday upheld a three-year jail term against opposition leader Hamma Hammani for membership of the outlawed Communist Workers Party, his lawyers stated.
50-year-old Hammami was initially sentenced in absentia in the year 1999 to nine years for belonging to the banned party, however the term was reduced on appeal to three years and two months, AFP said. He was immediately jailed in February this year when he emerged after four years in hiding.
Monday's closed-door hearing lasted for only a few minutes and the lawyers said they were barred from attending. They also denounced the hearing at the Court of Cassation as irregular. The Tunisian lawyers' association termed it in a statement as "a flagrant violation of the rights of the defense".
But, representatives of Amnesty International and two other international rights organizations were present at the court on Monday. Hammami and his co-defendants, Samir Tamallah and Abdeljabar Madouri, who have insisted on their right to freedom of speech and association, were jailed for membership of an illegal organization, distributing leaflets, spreading false information and inciting rebellion and law-breaking.
In addition, the court also upheld Tamallah and Madouri's sentences, which had been reduced during the first round of appeals to a year and nine months. The court also upheld a two-year sentence on Madouri for "flagrant insult of the magistrature".
Hammami's wife Radia Nasraoui went on a hunger strike for more than five weeks from June 26 to August 2 to protest the conditions of her husband's detention. She was permitted to visit Hammami in jail with their two daughters for half-an-hour on Friday, the 21st anniversary of their wedding.
The government said Hammami's case could only be reconsidered once all legal processes had been exhausted. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
