GhRAPID ACTION NETWORK Appeal | May 7, 2013
Tunisian blogger Jabeur Mejri
PEN Canada’s Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) has recently learned that a seven-and-a-half year prison sentence passed on the Tunisian blogger Jabeur Mejri, for expressing allegedly blasphemous views online, was confirmed by the Court of Cassation on April 25, 2013. Mejri has been in prison since his arrest on March 5, 2012. PEN considers Jabeur Mejri to be targeted solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Tunisia is a signatory. PEN calls for Mejri’s immediate and unconditional release and urgently seeks guarantees of his safety in detention.
According to PEN’s information, blogger Jabeur Mejri was arrested on March 5, 2012 for using social networks to publicise a satirical book entitled The Illusion of Islam. On March 9, 2012, a primary court in Mahdia charged Mejri with “disturbing the public order and violating social morals” under article 121 (3) and 226 of Penal Code, and with “publishing articles which violate good morals” under article 86 of Communication Law. These laws were established by the Ben Ali regime.
On March 15, 2012, a primary court in Mahdia (eastern Tunisia) sentenced Mejri to seven and half years in prison. He was also fined 1200 Tunisian Dinars ($790). The author of the book, writer Ghazi Beji, was also charged in the case but fled Tunisia and was sentenced to seven and half years in prison in absentia. Mejir, however, has been in prison since his arrest on March 5, 2012. Mejri has lost all appeals and, on April 25, 2013, the Court of Cassation upheld his sentence.
According to Mejri’s lawyer, he was tortured during his interrogation and was also attacked on several occasions inside the prison by other prisoners after news spread that he had “insulted Islam”. Mejri suffers from behavioural problems, and requests by his defence team for an examination of his mental state were refused by the court.
On April 23, 2013, a committee supporting Jabeur Mejri and Ghazi Beji published a letter from Mejri, written in his prison cell in Mahdia, in which he claims he has been subject to torture. Mejri wrote:
“There’s no freedom of expression here in Tunisia, it is dead…I am denied medicine to cure my illness and other rights. Seven years and six months is a long period to spend in a small, dark and gloomy place. Officers take pleasure in torturing me.”
More information on Jabeur Mejri can be found here
Please send appeals
- Condemning the harsh prison sentence handed down to blogger Jabeur Mejri solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to free expression;
- Calling for his immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Tunisia is a signatory;
- Expressing concerns for his safety, and seeking assurances that he is not being tortured or ill-treated in detention which violates Article 5 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights);
- Urging the Tunisian authorities to allow him access to immediate medical attention.
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