10 years in jail possible for Tunisian activist over Gabes pollution protest

A young Tunisian environmental activist is facing up to 10 years in prison after being arrested during a peaceful protest against industrial pollution in the southern city of Gabes.

Dali Rtimi (R'timi) was detained on 23 May during a demonstration organised by the grassroots collective Stop Pollution.

He now faces multiple charges, including assaulting a public official—an offence that carries a sentence of up to a decade under Article 127 of the Penal Code—as well as rebellion and forming a criminal group.

Rights groups say the charges are politically motivated and aimed at silencing dissent.

Rtimi was reportedly trying to shield fellow protesters when police violently intervened. He and two others were beaten at the scene, and later at the station, according to the Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms.

"They were subjected to further physical and psychological violence", the group's spokesperson Rami Ben Salah told The New Arab.

"They were also first denied access to lawyers, a clear violation of Law No. 5 of 2016."

The three remain in custody, where they allegedly faced continued abuse. Their hearing is expected to take place later today Wednesday 28 May.

"The young man's body bears visible signs of blows", the Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT) said in a statement, denouncing what it called "an attempt to mask police abuses and criminalise activism."

Lawyers say they have been harassed while trying to defend the activists. Other supporters who travelled to Gabes in solidarity were stopped and searched, with some questioned for carrying protest placards in their cars, according to local groups.

The arrests have reignited anger in Gabes, a coastal city often described as Tunisia's environmental sacrifice zone.

The 23 May protest was one of many actions led by local youth demanding the removal of toxic industrial plants run by the state-owned Groupe Chimique Tunisien.

Residents say the phosphate-processing units have contaminated the city's air, sea and soil for decades.

The phosphate industry has long been a pillar of Tunisia's post-independence economy, but in Gabes, the cost has been staggering.

Locals report elevated rates of cancer, infertility and respiratory illnesses, alongside the collapse of marine ecosystems and the loss of traditional livelihoods such as fishing and agriculture.

The Stop Pollution movement emerged after the 2011 revolution, driven by youth disillusioned with the ecological crisis in the country.

In 2017, the government pledged to relocate the most hazardous facilities outside the city, but the plan was never realised.

A deadly explosion at an asphalt plant in 2021, which killed six workers, further fuelled public mistrust, especially after revelations that ammonium nitrate—the same chemical behind the Beirut port disaster—had been stored near residential areas.

New industrial projects, including an ammonia plant and a green hydrogen initiative, have sparked new fears.

While framed as part of Tunisia's green energy transition, activists warn they risk repeating the same model: extractive projects imposed on vulnerable communities without consultation or environmental safeguards.

"We just want to live without being poisoned," chanted protesters last week in Gabes.

In a country gripped by inflation, soaring unemployment and growing authoritarianism, Gabes' environmental crisis has rarely made national headlines.

However, to rights groups, the arrests are part of a wider crackdown on dissent; whether ecological, political or in solidarity with Palestine.

Since President Kais Saied's re-election last October, authorities have ramped up harassment and arrests targeting activists, lawyers, journalists and pro-Palestine campaigners.

On Tuesday evening, dozens gathered in Tunis to denounce police violence. "Every oppressor will face justice; every injustice will be avenged" they chanted, echoing the same frustration that fuelled Tunisia's 2011 revolution, which was itself sparked in part by police brutality in marginalised towns like Sidi Bouzid, Kasserine, and Gabes.