CAT/C/28/D/185/2001
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2.5
In 1992 he was expelled to Tunisia together with 11 other Tunisians affiliated with
Islamic movements. In Tunisia, they were kept in pre-trial detention for two and a half months.
He and three other prisoners managed to escape while awaiting trial. He fled to Algeria again,
where he applied for asylum on 8 September 1992. The application was rejected in
December 1992, and he was again sent to Tunisia in 1993.
2.6
Upon return to Tunisia, he was arrested, and sentenced to one and a half years in prison
for being a member of an illegal organization, and for having participated in demonstrations and
agitation. According to the complainant, he was maltreated and tortured during every detention,
but even more so during the last one, including hitting in his right leg with a baton causing a
fracture and permanent pains, pouring of water over him while he was handcuffed, removing
hair from his body, and burning his body with cigarettes.
2.7
When he married an Algerian woman in December 1994, he planned to abandon political
activity. He worked for a construction company from 1 March 1996 to 30 June 1999. However,
in 1996, he was again accused of anti-governmental activity, after refusing to participate in
meetings called by the local leader of the governmental party. He was arrested and sentenced to
one and a half years in prison. He was released in January 1997, due to demonstrations and
international pressure to ease the repression. Subsequent to his detention, he had to report to the
police every day. From 1998, the reporting frequency was changed to once a week and it was
still in effect when he left Tunisia.
2.8
In the summer of 1999, he was informed that several members of Al-Nahdha whom he
knew had been arrested; therefore he decided to escape the country. He obtained a passport
through contact and bribes, and a visa for Sweden to visit his cousin, and left for Sweden
on 7 August 1999. He arrived in Sweden on the same day, and destroyed his passport
immediately after arrival. Before applying for asylum on 24 August 1999, he awaited
documents and proof from Tunisia. Whilst in Sweden he was summoned for trial in Tunisia
for 15 September 1999, and he was sentenced to eight years in prison in absentia, for attempts of
agitation, disturbing the public order and collecting funds. The complainant submitted a fax
copy of a certificate from the Jendouba court dated 18 February 2000, confirming these alleged
facts. The police came to search his house in Tunisia several times, and once detained his wife
for three days. Subsequently, his wife had a miscarriage. After he left for Sweden, his wife
went to Algeria since she was under the constant pressure of Tunisian authorities, and in
January 2000 his wife and daughter travelled to Sweden.
2.9
On 4 January 2000, the Swedish Immigration Board rejected his application, and
ordered his expulsion to Tunisia. The reasons for rejection were mainly that the Board doubted
his credibility, since he had destroyed his passport when arriving in Sweden, and he had
waited 17 days before applying for asylum. Furthermore, the Board noted that in spite of the
strict controls at Tunisian airports, he was able to leave through a Tunisian airport in his own
name. The Board therefore considered it unlikely that he was wanted by Tunisian authorities.
The Board also noted that there were several discrepancies in the information provided by him,
i.e. about the length of time he was employed, when he was first tortured, and the length of the
sentence he was convicted to in 1996. It also noted that meanwhile he informed the Swedish
Immigration authorities in an interview on 25 August, that he had a case pending before a
Tunisian court.