E/CN.4/2000/9/Add.5 page 16 who was examined by the forensic surgeon on the day of his arrest. On 28 and 29 March he was again examined when he was transferred to hospital after “having attempted to injure himself”. Assisted by an officially-appointed lawyer, he made a statement during his three days’ detention. On 30 March 1998, assisted by an officially-appointed lawyer, he made a statement before central examining court No. 1, according to which “he was subjected to physical and psychological ill-treatment although the blow on his head was self-inflicted”. He was assigned lawyers of his choice and made a statement before the judicial authorities on 20 October 1998 the record of which says, among other things, that “everything stated in these proceedings was cooked up by the Civil Guard who beat and ‘bagged’ him … The statement made at the police station was obtained by torture. The defence denies that the accused is a member of the ETA group. The sentence handed down by the Criminal Division of the National High Court on 24 June 1999 analyses allegations of the ill-treatment the three persons accused Armendáriz Izaguirre, Gómez Ezquerro and Echavarri Garro. The judge states that nothing in the medical reports, confirmed by the forensic report during the oral proceedings, suggests that they could have been ill-treated in order to obtain their statements”. The three persons sentenced, assisted by their lawyers, have appealed to the Supreme Court. 73. Peio De Vega Martín (ibid., para. 926) was arrested on 27 January 1998 and examined on eight occasions during his detention. On 31 January he was examined by the forensic surgeon, who stated that he did not complain of ill-treatment and did not show any signs of having been ill-treated. The same day, assisted by a lawyer of his choice, he made a statement before the judge according to which “on being asked about the way he had been treated by the Civil Guard during his detention, he stated that he had been beaten and threatened”. The judge of central examining court No. 5 sent him to prison without bail effective 31 January 1998. Vega Martín is defended by his lawyers and proceedings are pending. Tunisia 74. By letter dated 24 December 1999, the Government responded to the allegations communicated to it by the Special Rapporteur in September 1999. 75. Concerning Ahmed Ben Salah Taboubi (see E/CN.4/2000/9, para. 1022), the Government indicated that he had been involved in ordinary law cases and had not been ill-treated. 76. Concerning Hédi Sassi (ibid., para. 1023), the Government stated that during his detention in the Tunis civil prison he had made himself conspicuous by his provocative attitude towards the penitentiary administration by refusing to respect prison regulations and frequently going on hunger strike. However, he was not subjected to any form of violence or abusive treatment. This was confirmed by the investigations carried out following the complaint he lodged with the Tunis court of first instance. 77. Concerning Abdelmoumen Belanes, Béchir Abid and Ali Jallouli (ibid., para. 1024), the Government stated that they had been arrested in December 1995 in possession of tracts likely to cause a breach of the peace. They were not ill-treated during their questioning. The