Tunisia: Death sentence over Facebook posts a brazen attack on freedom of expression

Update: Lawyer Oussama Bouthelja announced on October 7, 2025, that his client, Saber Ben Chouchane, has been released. Ben Chouchane had been behind bars since January 2024. This decision comes after the criminal chamber of the Nabeul Court of First Instance, which had issued a preliminary death sentence against him just last Wednesday, ordered his release.
 

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The Tunisian authorities must immediately quash the death sentence handed down to labourer Saber Ben Chouchane, whose only ‘crime’ was posting criticism of President Kais Saied on Facebook, said Skyline International for Human Rights (SIHR) today.

In a shocking escalation of the crackdown on dissent, the Criminal Chamber of the Nabeul Court of First Instance convicted Chouchane on 1 October 2025 under Case No. 4515. The charges, which include “aggression aimed at changing the state’s form” under Article 72 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, are based entirely on social media posts he made under a pseudonym to an audience of roughly 1,000 followers.

“Sentencing a citizen to death for his Facebook posts is an appalling overreach that crosses a red line. It weaponizes the justice system to silence criticism and instils a chilling effect across the entire digital landscape in Tunisia,” said Dima Samaro, Executive Director at SIHR. “This is not justice; it is a politically motivated charter for digital repression.”

The fact that Tunisia’s specialized judicial pole for combating terrorism dropped the case for lacking a “terrorist character” underscores that these charges are a blatant misuse of the law to punish peaceful expression. This death sentence for online speech shatters Tunisia’s de facto moratorium on executions in place since 1991. It represents a catastrophic reversal of the freedoms won in the 2011 revolution and a direct assault on the digital public space.

The ruling flagrantly violates Article 37 of the Tunisian Constitution and international law, including Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It also directly defies a July 2024 UN Human Rights Council resolution (56/7) calling on states to refrain from criminalizing freedom of expression. The application of a law intended for violent insurrection to social media criticism is a grotesque distortion of justice, precisely the kind of abuse UN expert Irene Khan has condemned, stating that criminal law should be reserved for the most extreme cases of incitement to violence.

The abrupt transfer of the presiding judge after the verdict was issued raises grave concerns about political interference and the independence of the judiciary in this case.

Skyline International calls on the Tunisian authorities to:

• Immediately and unconditionally overturn Saber Ben Chouchane’s death sentence and release him.
• End the use of the death penalty for all crimes and work towards its full abolition.
• Urgently repeal and amend repressive laws, including Article 72 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which are used to criminalize online dissent.
• Cease all judicial harassment and intimidation of people for exercising their right to freedom of expression online.

We also urge the international community, human rights organizations, and diplomatic missions in Tunisia to closely monitor this case and exert all necessary pressure to prevent this grave miscarriage of justice and uphold the right to freedom of expression for all.