Tunisian bar association accuses policemen of torturing a lawyer

16/5/2024 11:36

        Tunisian lawyer Mahdi Zagrouba was tortured by police officers after being arrested on Monday, lawyers and a human rights organisation said on Wednesday after he collapsed in court and was taken to a hospital.
        
        Lawyer Souad Boker said Zagrouba appeared on Wednesday before the investigating judge in a exhausted state, adding that "he mentioned the names of the policemen who tortured him before he suffered a collapse and coma".
        
        Witnesses and lawyers said that Zagrouba was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
        
        The state news agency quoted Zarouba's attorney, Boubaker Ben Thabet, as saying Zagrouba had been subjected to "systematic torture" during his detention.
        Toumi Ben Farhat, another lawyer representing Zagrouba, said his colleague "was subjected to extremely severe torture".
        
        Tunisian police stormed the bar association's headquarters on Monday for the second time in two days and arrested Zagrouba, who has criticised the president, after detaining Sonia Dahmani, another lawyer, during the weekend.