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Rapper Weld El 15 walks free
Tunisian rapper Weld El 15 (real name Alaa Yaacoubi) walked free from Tunis's Court of Appeal today after his jail sentence for "insulting" police was reduced from two years to a six month suspended sentence, Padraig Reidy writes
By Padraig Reidy
02 Jul 13
Middle East and North Africa | News and features

sayeb15Tunisian rapper Weld El 15 (real name Alaa Yaacoubi) walked free from Tunis’s Court of Appeal today after his jail sentence for “insulting” police was reduced from two years to a six month suspended sentence, Padraig Reidy writes

According to AFP, the rapper’s lawyer Ghazi Mrabet hailed the court decision as “a victory for liberty, for democracy, and for Weld el 15, who did nothing but create a work of art.”

Weld el 15 was sentenced in March after his song “Boulicia Kleb” (The Police Are Dogs) was posted on YouTube. In the song, the rapper says he dreams that “he would like to slaughter a police officer instead of sheep at Eid al-Adha”.

A social media campaign using the hashtag #sayeb15 rallied support for the rapper. In June, a group of Francophone hip hop artists signed an article in French newspaper Libération calling for his release.

Index on Censorship also joined in sending messages of support to Weld el 15.

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But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.

If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.

Make a £20 monthly donation

At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.

But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.

If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.

Make a £10 one-off donation

At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.

But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.

If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.

Make a £20 one-off donation

At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.

But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.

If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.

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By Padraig Reidy

Padraig Reidy is the editor of Little Atoms and a columnist for Index on Censorship. He has also written for The Observer, The Guardian, and The Irish Times.

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