Six months in prison for having parodied the Koran. In Tunisia, a 27-year-old student was found guilty, Tuesday, of attack with the religion and incitement to hatred after having relayed, on May 4, on the social networks a publication entitled "sourate corona", indicates France 24.
Emna Chargui had shared, on her Facebook page, a text on the coronavirus calling for washing hands and respecting social distancing by using the style and rhymes of Quranic suras.
"So says the great Jilou"
"There is no difference between kings and slaves, follow the science and leave the traditions", one can read in the text with the ironic conclusion "thus speaks the big Jilou", a name of divinity invented.
Tunisian justice had then decided to prosecute the Internet user for "attack on the sacred and public decency and incitement to violence". According to his lawyer interviewed, at the time by AFP, she was prosecuted under article 6 of the Constitution which states that "the state protects religion".
The fundamental law voted in 2014, the fruit of a historic compromise, provides that the state "guarantees the freedom of belief, of conscience" while committing to "protect the sacred and prevent it being undermined".
"It's a laugh that makes you cry"
"The convening by the police of a Tunisian citizen, for a text that uses the style of the Koran, is really laughing but it is a laugh that makes you cry," had reacted the Islamologist Olfa Youssef. Aren't we activating laws today to silence the mouths? "
In a press release, the National Observatory for the Defense of the Civilian Character of the State had, for its part, "expressed its great astonishment at the extent of this affair (…) and called to respect the freedom of expression ”. The NGO Amnesty International also called on the Tunisian authorities at the end of May to drop the charges.
The girl told Liberation that she intended to appeal the decision.
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- Parody
- Koran
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