Tunisian Man Sentenced To Death Over Facebook Posts Criticising President, State Security

By Dr. Odimientimi Agbedeyi

In a ruling that has shocked human rights defenders, activists, and citizens across the world, a Tunisian court has sentenced a 56-year-old man, Saber Chouchane, to death over Facebook posts critical of President Kais Saied and the state security apparatus.

This unprecedented judgment, delivered by a court in Nabeul, has immediately ignited a wave of outrage, ridicule, and fear among Tunisians, who see it as yet another sign of the country’s rapid descent into authoritarianism since Saied seized near-absolute powers in 2021.

The Case and Sentence

According to his lawyer, Oussama Bouthalja, Chouchane is a day labourer with limited education, who merely exercised his right to free speech by criticising the president online. He was arrested last year and, in what many observers describe as a politically motivated trial, was found guilty of “insulting the president” and “assaulting state security”.

“The judge in the Nabeul court sentenced the man to death over Facebook posts. It is a shocking and unprecedented ruling,” Bouthalja told Reuters. He confirmed that an appeal has been filed against the decision.

Chouchane’s family, already struggling with poverty, has been thrown into further despair. “We can’t believe it,” said his brother, Jamal, who spoke to Reuters by phone. “We are a family suffering from poverty, and now oppression and injustice have been added to poverty.”

Public Outcry and Criticism

Although Tunisia still carries the death penalty in its legal system, the country has not carried out an execution in over three decades. The severity of this sentence has therefore been widely viewed as a deliberate attempt to intimidate critics of President Saied.

Activists, ordinary citizens, and human rights defenders flooded social media platforms with condemnation, describing the ruling as “a strategy of fear” aimed at silencing dissent and shutting down free expression. Many warned that this decision, if upheld, could mark a dangerous turning point in Tunisia’s fragile democracy.

Tunisia’s Slide Into Authoritarianism

Since 2021, when President Saied dissolved the elected parliament and assumed sweeping powers by decree, Tunisia has faced sustained criticism for its erosion of judicial independence and democratic values. Opposition parties have consistently described Saied’s moves as “a coup.”

The once-celebrated North African nation, known as the birthplace of the Arab Spring and admired for its relative democratic progress in the past decade, now finds itself at the center of international scrutiny.

Broader Implications

This ruling raises profound concerns about the future of free expression not only in Tunisia but across Africa and the wider Arab world. If a day labourer with no political power can face the death penalty simply for expressing an opinion online, it signals a dangerous precedent for the suppression of free speech everywhere.

Global human rights organizations are expected to intensify pressure on Tunisian authorities, urging the government to reverse the sentence and reaffirm its commitment to democracy and human rights.

For now, Saber Chouchane’s fate hangs in the balance as his appeal moves forward. But beyond his personal tragedy, the case has already become a rallying point in the ongoing struggle between authoritarianism and freedom of expression in Tunisia.

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Source: Sahara Reporters / Reuters

Author: Dr. Odimientimi Agbedeyi
Global Egberi Media International
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Tags: Tunisia, Saber Chouchane, Kais Saied, Free Speech, Human Rights, Africa Politics, Authoritarianism