A Tunisian court has handed down a death sentence to 56-year-old day labourer Saber Chouchane, convicted of insulting President Kais Saied and assaulting state security through Facebook posts. The ruling, delivered on October 3, 2025, is being described as unprecedented in Tunisia’s modern history, according to the Tunisian League for Human Rights and Chouchane’s lawyer, Oussama Bouthalja.
Bouthalja called the decision “shocking,” noting that his client, who has limited education, had only been expressing criticism of the president before his arrest last year. An appeal has already been filed, while the Justice Ministry has yet to comment.
Though Tunisian courts occasionally issue death penalties, no executions have taken place in more than 30 years. The severity of this ruling has drawn widespread condemnation online, with activists and ordinary Tunisians alike ridiculing it as an attempt to instill fear and silence dissent.
Chouchane’s brother, Jamal, expressed disbelief: “We are a family suffering from poverty, and now oppression and injustice have been added to poverty.”
Since President Saied’s power grab in 2021, when he dissolved parliament and began ruling by decree, Tunisia has faced mounting criticism for curbing free speech, undermining judicial independence, and imprisoning opposition leaders. Rights groups and political opponents warn that this latest ruling may mark a dangerous escalation in the country’s democratic backslide.
