Tunisia pardons man sentenced to death over Facebook posts

Saber Ben Chouchane, who was fixed the decease punishment implicit posts insulting President Kais Saied, is released.

A Tunisian antheral who had been sentenced to decease implicit Facebook posts deemed violative to President Kais Saied has been pardoned and released from prison, his lawyer and a quality rights radical say.

Saber Ben Chouchane near jailhouse overnight and was astatine location with his family, his lawyer Oussama Bouthelja told quality agencies connected Tuesday, aft a question of disapproval from quality rights groups implicit the case.

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Saber’s brother, Jamal Chouchane, besides confirmed to the Reuters quality bureau that helium had been freed portion the rights radical Amnesty International said successful a connection that helium had been released owed to “a statesmanlike pardon”.

Ben Chouchane, who was arrested successful January 2024, had been sentenced to decease by a tribunal successful Nabeul, eastbound of Tunis, connected Wednesday, Bouthelja told the AFP quality agency.

His lawsuit had been recovered blameworthy of “insulting the president, the curate of justness and the judiciary”, spreading mendacious quality and immoderate of his societal media posts were besides deemed to beryllium incitement, Bouthelja added.

Bouthelja told AFP that helium had filed an entreaty against his condemnation connected Friday but was aboriginal informed Ben Chouchane withdrew it, allowing a statesmanlike pardon to beryllium granted.

‘A superior precedent’

Bouthelja said helium had been “astonished” by the decease sentence, which rights groups said represented a chilling caller level of repression amid tightening restrictions connected code since Saied mounted a sweeping powerfulness drawback successful 2021.

Heba Morayef, determination manager astatine Amnesty International, had described the verdict “as a important escalation and an outrageous battle connected quality rights”.

“The usage of superior punishment successful this lawsuit is simply a stark and horrifying illustration of a authorities weaponizing the justness strategy to crush state of look and the slightest motion of dissent,” she said successful a connection connected Monday.

The Paris-based Tunisian quality rights radical CRLDHT had said the verdict acceptable “a superior precedent” and Tunisia had “reached unprecedented levels of quality rights violations”.

Rule by statesmanlike decree

Saied, who was elected successful 2019, dissolved Tunisia’s elected parliament successful 2021 and started ruling by decree, starring to what rights groups said has been a large rollback of freedoms and sparking concerns implicit the erosion of judicial independence.

In particular, a instrumentality criminalising “spreading mendacious news”, enacted by Saied successful September 2022, has been criticised by rights groups for stifling escaped speech.

Dozens of Saied’s critics person been prosecuted nether the decree and are presently down bars, according to AFP.