A Tunisian court has handed down a death sentence to a 51-year-old man over Facebook posts deemed insulting to President Kais Saied and threatening to state security, his lawyer confirmed on Friday.

A Tunisian court has handed down a death sentence to a 51-year-old man over Facebook posts deemed insulting to President Kais Saied and threatening to state security, his lawyer confirmed on Friday.

Saber Chouchen was convicted earlier this week on charges of attempting to overthrow the state, insulting the president and spreading false information online. Judges said his posts incited violence and chaos, citing Tunisia’s penal code and the 2022 cybercrime legislation known as Decree 54.

The ruling marks the first time such a penalty has been applied in Tunisia for social media activity. While capital punishment remains legal, the country has not carried out an execution since 1991, when a convicted murderer was put to death.

Chouchen’s lawyer, Oussama Bouthelja, said his client had been held in pre-trial detention since January 2024. He described him as a father of three, an occasional labourer, and a man living with a permanent disability from a workplace accident.

“Most of the content he shared was copied from other pages and drew almost no reaction,” Bouthelja said in a Facebook statement, adding that his client’s intent was to highlight his difficult living conditions rather than provoke unrest.

Dozens of Tunisians have been given lengthy prison terms under Decree 54 since President Saied consolidated power in 2021 by suspending parliament and ruling by decree. The law criminalises the production and spread of “false news” that could undermine public safety or national defence.

Human rights groups have condemned the measure as a tool to suppress dissent and freedom of expression. Advocates warn that applying the death penalty for online speech represents a serious escalation and a dangerous precedent in Tunisia, once hailed as the Arab Spring’s only democratic success story.

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