Six men were arrested on 2 December at a party in Kairouan. On 10 December, International Human Rights Day, they were sentenced to three years imprisonment for 'sodomy'.
Update 8 March:
Six men, who had been jailed for “sodomy”, are now free.
The six men were already free on bail, but were still under a sentence of three years in prison, to be followed by a five-year ban from the city where they were arrested.
During an appeal hearing on 3 March, the men’s sentence was reduced to one month in prison (which they had already served) and a fine of 400 Dinar (about US$160), and their ban from Kairouan was overturned.
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Background to the case.
Same-sex sexual relations are criminalised in Tunisia.
Five of the men had no lawyers to represent them.
The men said that they were beaten and forced to undergo anal examinations against their will.
This amounts to torture when carried out against the will of the detainee. A lawyer representing them said the signs of the beating were still clear and one of the men had a broken nose.
The men were released on bail on 7 January pending the outcome of their appeal.
The men have been threatened since they were released, and are too afraid to go outside. The men’s normal lives and their studies have also been disrupted and they are in constant fear of facing new accusations or charges.
Take online action now and urge the Tunisian authorities to quash the conviction of the six men, to order an immediate and impartial investigation of the men's allegation of torture and to ensure that the six are protected from further reprisals. Call on them to repeal article 230 of the Penal Code, which criminalises consensual same-sex relations.