On April 3, 2023, officers arrived at Rached’s home. They explained to his mother that Rached was accused of breaking a car window and stealing sunglasses from inside. They said they’d be back later in the day. When the police returned, Rached had gone to sleep at a friend’s house. The officers burst into the friend’s home in the middle of the night. Rached resisted arrest and was severely beaten.<\/p>\n\n
The next day, Rached’s family went to the police station where they were told that Rached had been transferred to court. The family went to the court but couldn’t find him. They went to several police stations, without success. A policeman informed the family’s neighbor that Rached was hospitalized at Rabta hospital. Rached’s mother and brother found him in a coma in the intensive care unit. According to the doctor, his prognosis was vital.<\/p>\n\n
The family was only able to see Rached a week after he came out of his coma. He had wounds around his wrists, on his cheek and on his arm. His mother filed a complaint for assault.<\/p>\n\n
Rached later recounted that after his arrest upon arrival at the police station, he was placed in the basement of the police station and forced to sign reports acknowledging his guilt in the car theft as well as several other theft cases. When he refused, the officers violently beat him with sticks, fists and feet. They also sprayed him with tear gas. The officers stripped him of his clothes and sprayed him with cold water. Then he was tied to the wall with tight handcuffs and finally lost consciousness. The last thing he heard was <\/p>\n\n
“Stop, stop, he’s going to die.”<\/p>\n\n
Police officers contacted Rached’s brother to tell him that Rached had been hospitalized for a drug overdose. The brother had himself just been subject of a complaint of violence following an argument. The police officer promised to close the case if he dropped the complaint about what had happened to Rached. The brother refused to be blackmailed, and officers came to harass him at his place of work.<\/p>\n\n
Rached lost his job as a result of the torture and his 15 day-stay in hospital, and police officers promised to help him find another job if he withdrew his complaint. Rached continues to demand justice. \n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rached, aged 24, was arrested without a warrant in the middle of the night at the home of one of his friends. Suspected of breaking into a car and stealing sunglasses, he was taken into custody at a police station near Tunis. According to him, he was tortured in the basement of the station. The police officers beat him with sticks, fists and feet, sprayed him with tear gas and tied him to the wall in tight handcuffs until he lost consciousness. His family found him in hospital the next day, in a coma. His mother filed a complaint. Since his release from hospital, Rached has lost his job. He and his brother are under pressure to withdraw the complaint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-192","time_line","type-time_line","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n