Tunisia grants amnesty to thousands amid protests News
Tunisia grants amnesty to thousands amid protests

[JURIST] The Tunisian parliament, the Assembly of People’s Representatives [official website, in Arabic], on Thursday adopted a law pardoning thousands of people who followed orders from corrupt leaders while hundreds protested the decision. Amnesty will only be granted to those who did not make money off of the corruption or if they pay back the money with penalties. The Tunisian people and international organizations have condemned the law [TI report] and count it as a “final blow” [HRW report] in the transition process from the Ben Ali regime [BBC backgrounder].

Tunisia continues to face challenges after the Arab Spring uprising. Thousands of Tunisians in May protested [JURIST report] the recently passed bill that would grant amnesty to officials facing corruption charges from a previous regime. A Tunisian court sentenced [JURIST report] British DJ Dax J to a year in prison in April for public indecency and offending public morality after the artist played a remix of the Muslim call to prayer in a nightclub. In March German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere confirmed [JURIST report] that a Tunisian man responsible for a deadly museum attack in Tunisia in 2015 will be deported.