Capital punishment for a Facebook status: Kais Said's justice system at its most sinister.

October 3, 2025
crldht

The Criminal Chamber of the Nabeul Court of First Instance, presided over by Judge Nader Guidara, has sentenced a citizen to death for posting a status on Facebook in criminal case no. 5415/2025. This is not a hoax, these are proven facts.

Saber Chouchane, a citizen and father of three, wrote a status on the Facebook social network criticizing President Kais Saïed in his own way. He was arrested and brought before the anti-terrorist unit of the Tunis Court of First Instance, which has exclusive jurisdiction in matters of terrorism. As the terrorist nature of the offence was not proven, the case was referred back to the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Nabeul Court of First Instance, which decided to bring him before the Nabeul Criminal Chamber (Cour d'Assisi) on charges of offending the Head of State (article 67 of the Penal Code), disseminating false information (article 24 of Decree-Law 54-2022) and, even more seriously, attempting to change the form of government (article 72 of the Penal Code).

The Criminal Chamber of the Nabeul Court of First Instance, made up of 5 magistrates and presided over by Judge Nader Guidara, decided to sentence the accused to death. A very serious precedent!

Faced with the scandal, the Minister of Justice quickly dismissed the president of the chamber by means of a simple memo.

The CRLDHT denounces this monumental blunder which betrays the critical state of justice in Tunisia, where a certain magistrate, in his quest to please the regime, does not hesitate to commit ignominies as ridiculous as they are serious;
Considers that the regime has reached unprecedented levels of human rights violations, in particular the right to free expression and the right to a fair trial;
Encourages Tunisian and international citizens and civil society to condemn and fight against the abuses of this tyrannical power, for the respect of human rights and freedoms of Tunisians as an achievement of the revolution of 2011 which Kais Saïed embodies the counter-revolution;
Recalls the provisions of article 6.2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Tunisia has ratified: "2. In countries where the death penalty has not been abolished, a sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes, in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime, which shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of the present Covenant and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This penalty may be applied only by virtue of a final judgment rendered by a competent court."
Calls for the immediate release of the citizen victim of these violations.