Tunisian Labourer Sentenced To Death For Facebook Posts Insulting President

Tunisian Man Sentenced To Death Over Facebook Posts Criticising President

A Tunisian man has been sentenced to death by a court over social media posts that criticised the country’s president. The unprecedented ruling, delivered on Wednesday, October 2, 2025, has sent shockwaves through the nation and drawn immediate condemnation from human rights advocates.

Saber Chouchane, a 56-year-old day labourer and father of three, was convicted on charges of insulting the president and assaulting state security through his activity on Facebook. His lawyer, Oussama Bouthalja, confirmed the stunning verdict to Reuters on Friday, October 3. The court in the city of Nabeul issued the sentence, which has now been appealed.

A Shocking And Unprecedented Ruling

The legal representative for the accused expressed profound disbelief at the court’s decision. He emphasised the extraordinary nature of applying the death penalty for online criticism.

“The judge in the Nabeul court sentenced the man to death over Facebook posts. It is a shocking and unprecedented ruling,” his lawyer, Oussama Bouthalja, told Reuters.

According to the lawyer, Chouchane is a socially vulnerable individual with a limited educational background. He had been held in pretrial detention since his arrest in January 2024. Bouthalja described his client as a man who was simply trying to highlight his difficult living conditions, not incite violence.

A Family’s Despair

The sentence has devastated Chouchane’s family, who describe themselves as already struggling with poverty. His brother, Jamal Chouchane, spoke of the family’s anguish in a phone call with Reuters.

“We can’t believe it,” Jamal Chouchane, Saber’s brother, told Reuters by phone. “We are a family suffering from poverty, and now oppression and injustice have been added to poverty.”

The case against Chouchane was brought under Tunisia’s penal code and a controversial 2022 cybercrime law, known as Decree 54. This law has been widely criticised by journalists and human rights organisations as a key tool used by authorities to curb freedom of expression.

A Dangerous Precedent For Free Speech

This ruling marks the first time the death penalty has been issued for social media posts in Tunisia. While courts have occasionally handed down death sentences, the country has not carried out an execution since 1991. The verdict is seen by many as a dramatic escalation in the government’s crackdown on dissent.

Since President Kais Saied seized sweeping powers in 2021, dissolving the elected parliament and ruling by decree, Tunisia has faced growing international criticism over the erosion of democratic norms and judicial independence. Dozens of government critics, including opposition leaders labelled as traitors by the president, are currently imprisoned on various charges. Rights advocates warn that applying the death penalty for online speech sets a dangerously restrictive precedent for political freedom in the nation.