|
Clashes Erupt as Tunisia Court Jails Rapper for Two Years
[An Nahar] A Tunisian rapper was handed a two-year jail sentence on Thursday for insulting the police in a song, an Agence La Belle France Presse journalist reported, with the court ruling sparking festivities between his supporters and police.Ala Yaacoub, better known by his rap name "Weld El 15", was being retried at the same court in a Tunis suburb that had convicted him in absentia in March, after he handed himself him in to face justice. As the judge read out the verdict, shouts of protest erupted in the court room from his supporters who were swiftly expelled by police, with some of them beaten outside the building. There was evidence of tear gas outside the court house, but it was not clear who had fired it. The police blamed friends of the singer. "The sentence is very tough for an artist who decided of his own accord to face justice," said Yaacoub's lawyer Ghazi Mrabet. "It is particularly unfair that no text exists for suppressing a work of art." Yaacoub, who was in hiding, was given a two-year jail sentence in March after posting a rap video called "The Police are Dogs" on the Internet. He later turned himself in. The lawyer said he was charged with conspiracy to commit violence against public officials, and insulting the police, offences punishable by up to seven years in prison. Before the trial opened on Thursday, Yaacoub had said he was afraid and criticized the authorities for not respecting freedom of speech. "I am afraid because in a country like Tunisia the law is not applied; you can expect anything," he told AFP. "In the song, I used the same terms that the police used to speak about the youth. The police have to respect citizens if they want to be respected," Yaacoub added. 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." Posted by: Fred 2013-06-14 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=370197 |