Tunisian Rappers Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNIS, Tunisia –  Rappers Ala Yaacoubi, known as “Weld El 15”, and Ahmed Ben Ahmed, known as “Klay BBJ”, were sentenced to twenty-one months in prison on Monday. The two were convicted of insulting the police and undermining public decency after their performance at a concert in Hammamet on August 22.

Ala Yaacoubi is a Tunisian rapper well-known for his criticism of the police. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

The court’s ruling was in absentia as neither rapper appeared for trial. According to the rappers’ defense lawyer, Ghazi Mrabet, the two artists were never summoned to appear.

“We are surprised by this verdict…Our clients have not been summoned for trial as it is stipulated by law,” Mrabet told the privately-owned radio station Mosaique FM.

Following the concert, the artists were detained by police and questioned before being released. Mrabet added that his clients were physically assaulted by police during the detainment and that a doctor had documented Yaacoubi’s injuries.

Yaacoubi made headlines in June after he was convicted of insulting police and sentenced to two years in prison for his song “Police Are Dogs” (Boulicia Kleb). The anti-police song has a music video that contains a montage of police beatings. After outrage from various human rights and censorship groups, such as Human Rights Watch, Yaacoubi had his sentenced reduced to six months and suspended.

The authorities have accused Yaacoubi and Ahmed of performing “Police Are Dogs” at the August 22 concert. Varying reports have Mrabet denying that his clients performed the anti-police song to admitting that an excerpt was played.

Both rappers remain in hiding while they await the appeal process, despite demands to turn themselves in. Mrabet was adamant that the court’s decision violated free speech and would be appealed.

“I will speak to my clients to challenge this ruling, but jail sentences demonstrate that the relentless campaign against artistic freedom, freedom of expression, continues,” said Ghazi Mrabet, quoted by the AFP news agency.

Prime Minister Ali Larayedh denied that freedom of expression is an issue in Tunisia, pointing to Yaacoubi’s June conviction “for inciting hatred and calling for the death of police and magistrates”.

For further information, please see:

Index On Censorship – Tunisian rappers convicted of “insulting public servants” after concert arrest –  4 September 2013

ABC – 21 Months Prison for 2 Tunisian Rappers  – 2 September 2013

BBC – Tunisian rapper Weld 15 sentenced again – 2 September 2013

allAfrica – Tunisia – a New Prison Sentence for the Rappers “Weld 15” and “Klay” – 2 September 2013

Human Rights Watch – Tunisia: 2 Years in Prison for a Song – 15 June 2013

Council of Europe’s Committee Approves Magnitsky Murder Report Despite Fierce Opposition from the Russian Delegation

Press Release
For Immediate Distribution

4 September 2013 – Today, the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has approved the reportentitled “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky” (http://www.assembly.coe.int/Communication/20130904_ImpunityMagnitsky_EN.pdf). The report and a draft Resolution prepared by Rapporteur Andreas Gross, Swiss MP and member of the Socialist Group, were approved by all Committee members, except for 6.

At the previous Committee meeting on 25 June 2013 when the draft Magnitsky report was first released, the Committee agreed to give the Russian delegation more time and postponed the vote on the report until today’s meeting. Rapporteur Andreas Gross indicated that the information provided by the Russian officials during summer only confirmed his findings presented in June 2013 of a “massive cover-up” of the crime within the Russian government.

“My initial conclusion, namely that we are in the presence of a massive cover-up […], finds itself further consolidated,” said Rapporteur Gross in the addendum to the Report discussed by the Committee today.

The draft Resolution “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky” is expected to be debated at the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in January 2014.

The draft Resolution urges, in particular, to “close the posthumous trial against Mr Magnitsky and cease putting pressure on his mother and his widow to participate in these proceedings.”

The draft Resolution highlights the fact that in addition to the posthumous attack on Mr Magnitsky, other lawyers defending Hermitage against the same fraud Magnitsky had uncovered, remain under attack with criminal proceedings, and calls “to cease the persecution of other lawyers acting for the true owners of the fraudulently reregistered companies.”

The draft Resolution highlights how Sergei Magnitsky was beaten before his death and denied medical care, and calls to investigate the “possible criminal responsibility of all officials” and “hold to account for their acts and omissions all those who share in the responsibility for Mr Magnitsky’s death, in particular those who ordered his frequent moves between prisons and cells, with ever-deteriorating conditions of detention, failure to provide necessary medical treatment, and, just before his death at Matrosskaya Tishina prison, the beatings and the manner in which Mr Magnitsky was left alone in a cell in apparently critical condition.”

Addendum to the Report “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky”:

http://www.assembly.coe.int/Communication/20130904_ImpunityMagnitskyAdd_EN.pdf

See a press release by the PACE on the adoption of the “Refusing Impunity for the Killers of Sergei Magnitsky” report:

http://www.assembly.coe.int/ASP/NewsManager/EMB_NewsManagerView.asp?ID=8995

For further information, please see:

Law and Order in Russia