US EditionSocial Media Insult Leads to Death Sentence in Tunisia
Saber Chouchane was convicted under a 2022 law criminalizing false news and faces death for posts insulting state officials and inciting unrest, an unprecedented ruling in Tunisia.
- On Friday, 56-year-old labourer Saber Chouchane was sentenced to death over Facebook posts criticising President Kaïs Saied, human rights groups and his lawyer said.
- Decree 54, enacted in September 2022, criminalises `spreading false news` and has been used against critics, while human rights groups say freedoms have been severely restricted in recent years.
- The Nabeul court delivered the verdict on Wednesday, convicting Chouchane of insulting state officials, `spreading false news` and incitement, the defence lawyer Oussama Bouthelja said.
- Chouchane's family reacted with shock and Bouthelja said an appeal will be launched, while CRLDHT condemned the ruling as `a serious precedent` and urged Chouchane's `immediate release`.
- Historically, Tunisia has not carried out executions since 1991, but rights groups say this unprecedented death sentence signals a rollback of freedoms since its 2011 Arab Spring origins.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Tunisia man sentenced to death for online posts seen as insulting to president
A court in Tunisia has sentenced a 51-year-old man to death over social media posts deemed offensive to President Kais Saied and a threat to state security, his lawyer said on Friday. The defendant, identified as Saber Chouchane by human rights activists, was convicted on Wednesday of three charges: attempting to overthrow the state, insulting the president and spreading false information online. Judges said the posts incited violence and chaos …
Tunisian courts rarely impose the death penalty, and none has been carried out in more than 30 years.
Associated Press News
A court in Tunisia sentenced a man to death for Facebook posts seen as insulting to the president
A court in Tunisia has sentenced a 51-year-old man to death over Facebook posts deemed offensive to the president and a threat to state security.
Tunisia Issues Death Sentence Over Facebook Posts Critical of President
A Tunisian court has sentenced a man to death for Facebook posts deemed offensive to President Kais Saied, his lawyer and a rights group said Friday. The defendant, 51-year-old Saber Chouchane, was convicted on charges including “spreading false news” and “insulting the president, the justice minister, and the judiciary,” his lawyer Oussama Bouthelja told AFP. Some of the posts were also classified as incitement. The verdict was delivered on Wed…
Tunisian man sentenced to death for Facebook posts criticising president
The ruling has shocked Tunisia: 56-year-old labourer Saber Chouchane was sentenced to death over posts that criticised president Kaïs Saied on Facebook. The ruling is unprecedented in Tunisia despite its increasingly autocratic political course.
The maximum sentence was handed down on Wednesday against a Tunisian accused of having harmed President Kais Saïed on a social network. He will appeal according to his lawyer.
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