Tunisian sentenced to death after Facebook posts against the president. “We can't believe us”

A Tunisian man was sentenced to death for insult charges against the president and attack on state security by posting on social networks, his lawyer and the head of the Tunisian League for Human Rights said on Friday, according to Reuters.

The decision is unprecedented in Tunisia, where the restrictions on freedom of expression have been tightened since President Kais Saied has taken over almost all powers in 2021.

The convicted man, Saber Chouchane, a 56 -year -old daily worker, is an ordinary citizen with a limited education, who simply wrote critical posts to the president before his arrest last year, said his lawyer, Oussama Bouthalja, for Reuters.

“The judge of the court in the Nabe has convicted the man to death because of Facebook posts. It is a shocking and unprecedented decision,” Bouthalja said.

The court's decision was challenged in the appeal, the lawyer said.

“We can't believe us,” said Jamal Chouchane, Saber's brother, for Reuters by phone. “We are a family suffering from poverty, and now oppression and injustice have been added to poverty,” said the condemned man's brother.

The sentence has aroused a wave of critics and irony on social networks.

Many have described it as a deliberate attempt to instill in fear of critical voices against President Saied, warning that such harsh measures could further suppress the freedom of expression and could aggravate political tensions.

Ever since Saied dissolved the chosen parliament and began to govern by decree, Tunisia has been confronted with more and more criticisms from human rights about the erosion of the independence of the judicial system. The opposition called the power of power by Saied a coup.

Most of the opposition leaders, which the president labeled as traitors, are behind bars on the basis of various accusations.