CAT/C/61/D/654/2015 Aïssa, who happened to be a distant relative of Rached Jaïdane, told the latter that he was unable to report the torture because he would end up in prison himself. Conviction and sentence 2.10 On 30 May 1996, after three years in pretrial detention, Rached Jaïdane was sentenced, together with 11 co-defendants, to 26 years’ imprisonment for an attempted attack aimed at changing the Government (art. 72 of the Criminal Code) and for conspiracy (arts. 131 and 132) by the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal of Tunis ruling at first instance. They were accused of having fomented an attack on the congress of the Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique, the ruling party, on hotels and on the synagogue of Djerba, and of having planned to kidnap the daughter of the Minister of the Interior and the daughter of Ben Ali. They were all convicted following an expedited 45minute trial based on confessions obtained through torture. As an appeal in criminal proceedings could not be lodged under Tunisian law prior to the year 2000, the convicted persons filed an appeal in cassation. Their appeal was dismissed the following month. Conditions of detention while serving the sentence 2.11 Rached Jaïdane was detained successively in the following prisons: 9 April Prison from 1993 until the end of 1997; Nadhor Prison from 1997 to 1998; Borj Erroumi Prison from 1998 to 1999; Mahdia Prison from 1999 to 2001; Monastir Prison from 2001 to 2002; Gabès Prison from 2002 to 2003; and Borj Erroumi Prison from 2003 to 2006. His family was not allowed to visit him in prison until December 1993. He was repeatedly subjected to solitary confinement during his detention, sometimes for very long periods. At 9 April Prison, where he was placed in pretrial detention after being held in custody at the Ministry of the Interior, he was placed in an isolation cell on numerous occasions for periods ranging from 10 to 45 days as punishment for asserting his rights. He was placed in a cell measuring about 3 by 3 metres, sometimes alone and sometimes with other detainees. The cell contained no bed or blanket and only a hole for use as a toilet. The detainees were provided with only one piece of bread per day. They were denied access to showers and were not allowed out for a walk. When he was alone, Rached Jaïdane was usually chained to the wall by his left leg and right wrist. During the last 30 months of his detention in 9 April Prison, he was held in solitary confinement, alone in a room measuring 3 by 2.5 metres. He was allowed out, separately from other prisoners, only twice each day for between 5 and 10 minutes. Thus, as a result of repeated placement in isolation cells and 30 months of solitary confinement, Rached Jaïdane spent about four years in solitary confinement in the E wing of 9 April Prison. He frequently heard cries from prisoners who were tortured or chained to the bars of their cell door. He was able to communicate through the door with several other Islamist detainees held in solitary confinement. 2.12 When he was not placed in solitary confinement or in an isolation cell, Rached Jaïdane was successively placed in several overcrowded cells in which the majority of the prisoners slept on the floor, between the beds or even under the beds. One of the most overcrowded cells, which was known as the “Karaka” and was located in the G wing, accommodated about 400 prisoners who shared only two toilets. Like other prisoners of conscience, Rached Jaïdane was often deprived of his weekly shower. 2.13 In addition to the deplorable conditions of detention, Rached Jaïdane was repeatedly tortured during his detention in 9 April Prison. Each placement in the isolation cell was preceded by a torture session, during which guards beat his entire body with batons, plastic pipes and kicks. On each occasion they stretched him out on the ground, tied up his wrists and ankles, and struck the soles of his feet with a truncheon or a plastic tube before locking him up in the isolation cell. During two of the sessions, Rached Jaïdane lost consciousness. He awoke with a prison doctor by his side, nicknamed “the Serb”, who made sure that he had no fractures but never provided any care. The abuse and placement in isolation cells were escalated for several months. 2.14 At the end of 1994, Rached Jaïdane was assaulted by the head of one of the prison wings. He insulted the detainee, who returned the insult. In retaliation, the prison guard stripped the detainee naked, handcuffed him to the door of one of the isolation cells, beat him from head to foot with a wooden stick for about an hour, and then placed him in a cell 4 GE.17-16785