A Tunisian court has sentenced 51-year-old Saber Chouchen to death for Facebook posts deemed insulting to President Kais Saied and threatening to state security—a ruling that has triggered widespread outrage among human rights organizations and legal experts.
Chouchen was convicted of attempting to overthrow the state, insulting the president, and spreading false information online under Tunisia’s controversial 2022 cybercrime law, Decree 54. The law criminalizes the publication of “false news” or statements considered offensive to public authorities.
According to court records, Chouchen was arrested in January 2024 for sharing several Facebook posts critical of the president and the government. His lawyer, Oussama Bouthelja, argued that his client—an uneducated, low-income worker with minimal social media influence—had merely reposted content found elsewhere and posed no security threat.
Human rights advocates, including Amnesty International, condemned the verdict as a “dangerous escalation in Tunisia’s crackdown on dissent and free speech,” urging authorities to overturn the ruling.
While Tunisia retains capital punishment in its penal code, it has not carried out an execution since 1991. Legal observers expect the death sentence to be appealed, noting that it underscores growing concerns about the government’s tightening grip on political expression.
President Saied, who has ruled by decree since suspending parliament in 2021, continues to deny accusations of authoritarianism, claiming his actions aim to restore order and curb corruption.
