TUNIS, June 24, 2013 (AFP)
TUNIS, June 24, 2013 (AFP)
A Tunisian rapper controversially jailed for a song in which he insulted the police, will appeal his two-year sentence on Tuesday, his lawyer Ghazi Mrabet said.
The hearing was arranged in record time, Mrabet said, with Ala Yaacoub, better known by his rap name Weld El 15, convicted on June 13 after turning himself in following his trial in absentia in March.
“I hope it is the general mobilisation (to support him) that is the cause, and that the judiciary wants to correct itself,” Mrabet said.
Yaacoub was given the two-year jail term on June 13 for his song “The Police are Dogs”, the video of which was posted on YouTube.
In the video the singer is heard saying: “Police, magistrates, I’m here to tell you one thing, you dogs; I’ll kill police instead of sheep; Give me a gun I’ll shoot them.”
The severity of the verdict infuriated his supporters who attended the trial. In clashes that broke out afterwards some of them, as well as several journalists, were badly beaten by the police.
The court ruling was also strongly criticised by Tunisia’s political opposition and by human rights groups as an attack on freedom of speech.
