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| Africa North |
| Tunisia arrests blogger convicted of |
| 2014-12-26 |
[NEWS.YAHOO] Tunis - Tunisian authorities have incarceratedMaw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! a blogger as he returned from a trip abroad weeks after he was convicted of defaming army officers, his lawyer said Thursday. Yassine Ayari, 33, was taken into custody overnight after landing at Tunis-Carthage airport and was whisked to jail in line with the court verdict pronounced against him. The military prosecutor said Ayari had been sentenced in absentia on November 18 to three years' jail on charges of having "defamed army officers and senior defence ministry officials". Ayari, who was returning from La Belle France when he was detained overnight, had accused these officials of financial abuse, the prosecutor said in a statement. The blogger was unaware of the verdict against him for "undermining" the army, his lawyer Sami Ben Amor said, adding that the verdict was "very harsh". Ayari, who has posted on Facebook that he stands by every word he has written, has appealed the charges against him and a new hearing in the case has been set for January 6, Ben Amor said. |
| Posted by:Fred |