The 30-year prison sentence of three people in Tunisia for cannabis use has been strongly denounced in recent days by human rights organizations and on social networks.
The judgment, handed down on January 20, by a court of first instance in Kef (north) “does not relate only to the consumption of narcotics, but also the use of a sports field for the consumption of drugs”, indicated court spokesman Mohamed Faouzi Daoudi told AFP on Sunday.
Tunisian law provides for a severe penalty for the consumption of narcotics in public space, the spokesperson citing “law 52 and chapters 7 and 11”.
The three defendants, aged under 30, can appeal the judgment.
The verdict was denounced by Amnesty International, the director of the regional office of the NGO, Amna Guellali, judging Sunday “unacceptable in principle all the sentences issued concerning the consumption and possession of narcotics”.
It is “a deterrent targeting young people, not to introduce reforms but to break up the youth,” she added.
The Tunisian Human Rights League for its part denounced an “unjust verdict”, the head of his branch in Kef, Nour Khammassi, demanding a “revision of the chapters of law 52”.
On social networks, and under the hashtag in Arabic “#prison-no, change 52”, many users protested against the verdict and called for a demonstration.
The academic Raja Ben Slama for his part strongly criticized the judges of the court of Kef on his Facebook page, for “an absurd verdict and contrary to human rights, to the Constitution, to conventions and to all that is human”.
“How do you understand the Constitution, democracy and human rights?” She asks them.
