I.
THE PARTIES
1.
Ms. Safinaz Ben Ali and Ms. Lamya Jendoubi (hereinafter “the Applicants”),
a civil servant and a housewife respectively, are Tunisian nationals who, at
the time of filing the Application, had been in preventive detention, the
former, since 21 June and the latter, since 5 July 2022. They allege violation
of their rights to liberty and security in connection with proceedings in
domestic courts.
2.
The Respondent State is the Republic of Tunisia (hereinafter referred to as
“the Respondent State”), which became a party to the African Charter on
Human and Peoples Rights (hereinafter referred to as “the Charter”) on 21
October 1986 and to the Protocol on 5 October 2007. Furthermore, on 2
June 2017, the Respondent State deposited the Declaration provided for
under Article 34(6) of the Protocol (hereafter referred to as “the Declaration”)
by virtue of which it accepts the jurisdiction of the Court to receive
applications from individuals and Non-Governmental Organisations having
observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights.
II.
SUBJECT OF THE APPLICATION
A. Facts of the matter
3.
It emerges from the record that in September 2021, an investigation was
opened into digital content creation, which is the area of activity of the firm
Instalingo. The investigation revealed that to protect its interests more
effectively, the said firm, in collusion with senior officials of the Ministry of
the Interior and former state security operatives, infiltrated state institutions,
in particular with regard to appointments to certain positions and securing
the support of people linked to the Ennahdha party. Subsequently, a judicial
investigation was opened against a number of people by the investigating
2