Emna Charqui given jail term for mimicking a Verse from Quran
- realshepower
- Jul 15, 2020
- 1 min read
Tunisian Blogger Emna Charqui was arrested in May for sharing a viral Satirical Facebook post written in the form of a verse from Islam's holy book, Quran. The post urged people to follow social distancing and hygiene rules amidst the pandemic. The image and words on the post were designed by an Algerian atheist living in France. Emna was sentenced for six months in prison for sharing the post on a social media platform: Facebook.
On 2nd May, Emna shared the post, which led to a wide online stir. The followers of Islamic faith condemned the post and demanded stringent punishment for Emna, who is a publicly known atheist. On May 27, Emna's trial began in Tunisian court. On this, Amnesty's North Africa director Amna Guellai said, "The prosecution of Emna is yet another illustration of how, despite Tunisia's democratic progress, the authorities continue to use repressive law to undermine freedom of expression." Ms Guellali further added the right to freedom of expression extended to what "some might consider shocking or offensive" and called on the Tunisian government to amend the law "so they are compliant with human rights".
Meanwhile, the 28-year-old re-iterated in a couple of interviews that she found the post amusing and had no intention of provoking shock, and/or hurting religious sentiments. However, she was found guilty in a Tunis court of "inciting hatred between religions".
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