Free Tunisia's union leaders
Socialist Press1979 1979-06-06Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 3 →
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tional has launched a campaign for the immediate release from trade union movement.
Twenty four top union officials were jailed last September for terms ranging from six months to ten years with hard labour, following the one-day General Strike called by the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) on January 28,1978.
Tunisian premier Nouira The strike-intended as a token protest-had followed a wave of unofficial strikes in defiance of a reactionary no-strike 'social contract' agreed between the UGTT and the Bourguiba government early in 1977.
Armed police
It was met by masses of armed police and the armed forces that took to the streets and occupied stratěgic positions in advance of the strike.
Over 1,000 arrests. took place and hundreds were killed or wounded. The regime meted out savage beatings to many who were subsequently released.
And Amnesty quotes Le Monde which reported that afterwards over 150 people were tried in one week alone and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to seven years.
But the trial of the UGTT leaders was a particular mockery. Held before the State Security Court, the trial was closed to defendants' families and to an Amnesty observer.
All 76 defence lawyers withdrew in protest against the conditions of the trial. And when the court appointed 18 replacements they, too, stated that they were unable to defend the UGTT leaders since they had no chance to study the 4,000-5,000 page case dossier or to consult their "clients"
Following the predictable 'guilty' verdicts, 16 of the accused were sentenced to a total of 98½ years in jail.
Torture
Amnesty also report allegations of torture and illtreatment made by defendants in court hearings in Sfax, Sousse and Tunis.
Its campaign circular calls on British trade unionists to fight for the release of the UGTT leaders by passing resolutions in union branches and trades councils; calling on union executives to send high-level delegations to the Tunisian em bassy in London; and publicising the issue within the trade union movement.
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jail of almost the entire leadership of Tunisia's