Saber Chouchen, a Tunisian citizen, has been held in prison for 18 months due to posts he published on his Facebook account.
He was accused of “committing a heinous act against the president,” “assault intended to change the form of the state,” and “dissemination of false information concerning a public official.” The court sentenced him to death.
Personal Information:
Name: Saber Chouchen
Age: 51
Occupation: citizen
Region: Nabeul
Case: Committing a heinous act against the president based on Article 67 of the Penal Code, assault intended to change the form of the state based on Article 72 of the Penal Code and Article 24 of the Decree N.54 of 2022.
Violation Incidents:
Saber Chouchen, a Tunisian citizen, detained since January 22, 2024, was arrested during his therapy session in Menzel Tmim, an area of the Nabeul governorate. He remained there for an entire week without his family being informed, as they were unable to determine his whereabouts until a week later, due to their own personal efforts, according to his brother’s testimony
Saber remained imprisoned, as he was escorted to Belli prison on two occasions: first to the prison of Mornag, and second to prison of Borj El Amri. In fact, the Judicial pole for Anti-Terrorism handled his case but dropped it since there was no evidence of any terrorist activity.
The victim of violation was charged under Article 67 of the Penal Code for committing a heinous act against the president, and Article 72 of the same Code for assault intended to change the form of the state, a charge that could carry up to death penalty. He was also charged under the Second Paragraph of Article 24 of Decree N.54 of 2022 related to the diffusion of false information against a public officer, based on a number of posts in which he criticized the president.
During his detention, Saber was subjected to multiple violations of his fundamental rights, as he was denied access to medical treatment since he suffers from a disability in one of his hands.
And in his testimony, his brother insisted that Saber has been deprived of his right to visit, despite his particular health condition.
Saber remained in prison for more than a year and a half. Despite the expiration of the pre-trial detention period set by, he was still deprived of his freedom and he was brought before the Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance of Nabeul. After the defense’s arguments and the review of forensic reports, which were prepared the day of the hearing, the Court decided to postpone the hearing to October 1, 2025 while keeping him in detention.
And on October 1,2025, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance sentenced Saber Chouchen to death on the grounds of his facebook posts that were classified as three occurring offenses that require the maximum penalty.
He was convicted of intentionally attempting to change the form of the state, encouraging people to attack one another with weapons and to cause chaos, killings, and theft across Tunisian territory, committing a heinous act against the President and deliberately using information systems to publish or spread fake or falsified news, documents, or data containing personal information or false claims with the intent to damage someone’s reputation, harm others materially or emotionally, or incite violence or hate speech.
It is worth noting that the charges brought against Saber Chouchen and the sentence issued against him were based on posts he published on a page with very few followers, as most of his posts received little to no interaction.
His brother also stated that the death sentence had a severe impact on him and further worsened his health, especially his psychological state.
Human Rights Violations:
The case of Saber Chouchen involves many human rights violations against him. He was arrested on January 24, 2024, and held in prison for a week without his family being informed of his location, effectively disappearing for an entire week. This is a clear violation of the right to liberty and personal security, protected by Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. It also goes against Law No. 5 of 2016, which requires that families be notified and this be recorded in the police report.
Saber was also detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression on social media which violates international law, including Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to make opinions and express them freely, and Article 9 of the African Charter, which protects the right to express and share ideas according to the law. In Tunisia, freedom of expression is also protected by Article 37 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information, and publication.
During his detention, Saber was denied proper medical care for his hand injury that required regular physical therapy and only received one session after his lawyer intervened. This violates his right to health and human dignity, as protected by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and Tunisia’s own Constitution (Article 43).
He was also denied visits from his family despite his health condition, violating prisoners’ rights to maintain contact with their loved ones.
Sentencing him to death for social media posts violates the principle of proportionality, which says the punishment should match the crime. Punishing someone for expressing their opinion with the harshest penalty is a serious violation of human rights and international law.
The death penalty itself contradicts fundamental human rights, as the right to life is non-negotiable and protected by Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. International bodies, including the UN and organizations against the death penalty, call for limiting and gradually abolishing it, as it violates human dignity and justice.
The UN also stresses that the death penalty should be used very rarely and with full legal safeguards and standards not met in many countries, including Tunisia. Saber faces execution only because of his facebook posts, making the death penalty a clear violation of international human rights and a threat to his dignity and life.