Tag: tunisia

Tunisia political leader found guilty of having gay sex

Mounir Baatour, Liberal Party leader, has been found guilty of sodomy after being jailed for nearly three months, human rights groups criticize the ruling saying anti-gay legislation is used as a moral and political weapon Mounir Baatour, a political party leader and lawyer was found guilty of ‘sodomy’ with a 20 year old man. Baatour… Read more »

Tunisia jails rapper Weld El 15

Tunisian rap artist Weld El 15 lost his appeal on Thursday (June 13th). After three months on the run, the rapper hoped to overturn the conviction handed down for his song “Boulicia Kleb”. But the Ben Arous judge ruled that the rap song critical of the police merited a two-year prison sentence. “The sentence is… Read more »

Tunisian film tops Cannes

Tunis-born director Abdellatif Kechiche topped the 2013 Cannes festival “Palme d’Or” for his controversial film “La Vie d’Adele”. After receiving the award from US filmmaker Steven Spielberg at the French festival’s closing ceremony on Sunday (May 26th), Kechiche dedicated his win to youths of the Tunisian revolution, who “have the aspiration to be free, to… Read more »

French lesbian love story wins top prize at Cannes

An intimate lesbian love story by French director Abdellatif Kechiche won the top prize in Cannes on Sunday, and the film festival’s director immediately urged the large crowds protesting against gay marriage in Paris to go and see it. Cannes(Reuters) – “La Vie d’Adele – Chapitre 1 & 2” (Blue is the Warmest Colour) was… Read more »

Two men arrested under Tunisian sodomy law

Two men were arrested on sodomy charges in Tunisia on March 31, the news website Tunisia Live reported. Staff at the Sheraton Tunis Hotel reportedly discovered the men having sex and called security forces, which led to the arrest. The men were not identified in the Tunisia Live article, which added that “attempts to confirm… Read more »

Tunisia seeks path to unity (Non-gay background story)

The killing of opposition leader Chokri Belaid has triggered the greatest political crisis in the country since the revolution. Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on Saturday (February 9th) threatened to quit, warning of chaos unless a new government were formed. Jebali said he would resign within days if key ministries held by fellow Islamists were… Read more »

Tunisia Battles Over Pulpits, and Revolt’s Legacy

Kairouan, Tunisia — On the Friday after Tunisia’s president fell, Mohamed al-Khelif mounted the pulpit of this city’s  historic Grand Mosque to deliver a full-throttle attack on the country’s corrupt culture, to condemn its close ties with the West and to demand that a new constitution implement Shariah, or Islamic law. “They’ve slaughtered Islam!” thundered… Read more »