Index on Censorship calls on Tunisian authorities to halt its attacks on free expression and overturn the two-year sentence handed down to rapper Alaa Yacoub.
Yacoub, who performs under the name Weld El 15 was sentenced to prison for a song entitled “Boulicia Kelb”, (“The Police Are Dogs”). Originally sentenced in March, Yacoub had been in hiding, but surrendered to authorities in the hope that he would be granted leniency. He is due in court on Tuesday, 2 July to appeal his sentence.
Tunisian authorities accused the rapper on inciting violence against the police through his performance.
Yacoub told Tunisian website Nawaat in March that “as an artist, I can only answer them through my art: aggressive art.”
A wide range of individuals and civil society organisations have been campaigning for Yacoub at #sayeb15. He was sentenced under Article 128 of Tunisia’s penal code, which outlaws “accusing without proof a public official.”
Last month, a group of rappers put their names to an article in French newspaper Liberation calling for Weld £l 15 to be acquitted. The signatories included Joey Starr of French group Supreme NTM, whose infamous song Police (below) saw them face legal action from French police in the 90s. The article called Weld El 15 “the voice of the youth who seek more freedom in a Tunisia.”
