Tunisian sentenced to death for insulting President Kaïs Saied on social media

Saber Chouchane, a critic of President Kaïs Saied of Tunisia, has been sentenced to death for insulting the president of the North African country on social media.

The Criminal Chamber of the Nabeul First Instance Court on Wednesday condemned Mr Chouchane to death on charges of insulting the president and spreading fake news.

The judge also accused Mr Chouchane of inciting the public against the president and attempting to overthrow the government.

According to the court, Mr Chouchane, who has been in detention since January 2024, ran a Facebook page called “Kaïs le misérable,” which he used to criticise the Tunisian leader.

The prosecutor capitalised on Tunisia’s penal code and Decree-Law 54, the 2022 cybercrime legislation, which was opposed as a repressive law against critics of the government.

The 51-year-old who works as a laborer on-site became the first person sentenced to death for criticising Mr Saied.

Mr Chouchane’s lawyer, Samir Dilou, described the judgment as outrageous in a Facebook post.

This judgment raises questions and gives insights into the repressive clampdown on critics of the government in the North African country.

In a communiqué, the Committee for the Respect of Freedom and Human Rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT) condemned the judgment, describing it as a “very serious precedent!”

The group urged “Tunisian and international civil society and citizens to condemn and fight against the abuses of this tyrannical regime, in defense of human rights and freedoms as achievements of the 2011 revolution.”