Facts as presented by the complainant
2.1
The complainant lived and worked in Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 1998.
During this period, he was very active in the Muslim community, holding religious
discussions with other Muslims and collecting money for the poor and for the families
of imprisoned members of the Al-Nadha Party in Tunisia. The complainant is not a
member of that party but an active supporter. He states that all Muslim organizations
in Tunisia are considered to be working politically against the Tunisian regime,
including the Al-Nadha Party.
2.2
In 1989, 1990 and 1992, while the complainant was till residing in Saudi
Arabia, he made several visits to Tunisia. His first visit in 1989 was to arrange his
marriage contract. He was arrested at the airport, detained and interrogated in prison
and then brought before the “Al-Kassabah” court where he was forced to sign a
confession stating that he adhered to Wahhabism, which is the interpretation of Islam
practised in Saudi Arabia. The complainant was allegedly tortured during the
interrogation.
2.3
In 1990, the complainant entered Tunisia again in order to marry. He was
again arrested at the airport, interrogated, accused again of being a Wahhabi and then
released. In 1992, the complainant and his wife went to Tunisia together. They were
arrested at the airport and interrogated about the complainant’s activities and religious
ideas. He was again accused of being a Wahhabi and of collecting money for the
families of men imprisoned for activities against the Tunisian regime. After
interrogation they were released, but a travel ban was issued. A few days later,
uniformed and civilian police forcibly entered the house where they were staying.
The police forcibly removed the veil of the complainant’s wife, and beat the
complainant. The couple were brought to a camp where they were interrogated
separately for approximately three hours and then released after the complainant
signed a confession stating that he had adopted the Wahhabi ideas and had forced his
wife to wear a veil. On their release, the couple was helped by a friend of the
complainant’s to leave the country and return to Saudi Arabia.
2.4
On his return to Saudi Arabia in 1992, the complainant continued with his
activities in the Muslim community. In July of that year, he also received a new
passport at the Tunisian Embassy in Riyadh. In 1993 a “secret decree” was issued in
Tunisia, which forbade Tunisian embassies from issuing or renewing passports
without consulting the Tunisian Ministry of Internal Affairs. For wanted persons, the
embassies could only issue a laisser-passer for a journey back to Tunisia.
2.5
In 1996, the complainant received information that he and other Tunisians
were being monitored by the Tunisian Embassy. He was also told that another
Tunisian who lived in Saudi Arabia and whom he used to meet for religious
discussions had been arrested and imprisoned when he was visiting Tunisia on
vacation.
2.6
In 1997, another Tunisian who worked on the same type of activities as the
complainant was refused an extension of his passport by the Tunisian Embassy in
Riyadh. He later left Saudi Arabia and went to Switzerland. On 1 August 1997, the
complainant applied for asylum in Switzerland, but since he had no proof of the risk
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