US EditionTunisia Frees Man Sentenced To Death Over Facebook Posts: Lawyer
The pardon ended a death sentence under a 2022 law against spreading false news, amid concerns over rising repression and 56 current political prisoners, rights groups say.
- On Wednesday, a court in Nabeul sentenced Saber Ben Chouchane to death, but his lawyer Oussama Bouthelja and Amnesty International said he was pardoned and released shortly after.
- Detained last year for repeated Facebook attacks, Saber Ben Chouchane was convicted of insulting officials, `spreading false news` and posting incitement under the 2022 law.
- Local activists and ordinary Tunisians reacted as CRLDHT called the verdict `a serious precedent` and Heba Morayef described it as `a significant escalation`, with many condemning the sentence on social media.
- Bouthelja said he filed an appeal on Friday but was later told it was withdrawn, allowing a presidential pardon; critics say it fails to address broader speech sanctions, with human-rights activists pressing appeals.
- Since 2021, Tunisia's political shift under President Kais Saied and parliament dissolution in 2021 has raised rights groups' concerns over judicial independence, with calls for legal reforms and lasting change.
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14 Articles
Arab News
The New ArabTunisia pardons man facing death penalty over Facebook posts
TUNIS: A Tunisian man sentenced to death over Facebook posts deemed offensive to President Kais Saied has been granted a presidential pardon, his lawyer said Tuesday. Saber Ben Chouchane, 51, had been sentenced on multiple charges including “spreading false news,” defense lawyer Oussama Bouthelja said. Bouthelja said he had filed an appeal on Friday but was later informed Ben
Tunisian Saber Ben Chouchane, who was sentenced to death for social media posts in which he insulted the country's President Kais Saied, has been pardoned and released from prison.
The uneducated, 51-year-old day laborer was sentenced to death for spreading fake news and attacking state order.
Saber Chouchane, whose conviction had aroused intense outrage in the country, benefited from a presidential amnesty. According to the Association of Tunisian Magistrates, this case bears witness to a "climate of fear and insecurity among judges".
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