Cannabis users in Tunisia are facing a wave of repression that the country “has not seen since the Ben Ali era,” as one activist puts it. And President Kais Saied’s war on drugs serves as pretext for the reemergence of a police state.
Amending Law 52 on narcotics: A Mixed Track Record
When three young people were recently sentenced to 30 years in prison in accordance with Law 52 on narcotics, it sparked controversy. A debate has reignited over the repressive nature of the law and the fate of drug consumers locked up for smoking a joint. Meanwhile, collectives and associations have come out calling for the depenalization and decriminalization of drug consumption. Their demand is not a new one, but it remains hostage to political procrastination. In 2017, the law was amended to be less restrictive, but has its application followed suit? What changes have taken place since 2017?
In 2015, citizen movements struggle to keep the gains of the revolution
If some will remember 2015 as the year Tunisia’s National Quartet was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, others will recall that it was citizens’ struggles online and on the ground which kept the country on track.
Klay BBJ, impassioned artist
In spite of censorship by mainstream media, the impassioned rap of Klay BBJ has stirred the enthusiasm of youth far beyond working-class neighborhoods and provoked the animosity of law enforcement officials. Upon the release of «وقتاش» («When?») in January 2012, the Union of Customs Agents filed a complaint against Klay BBJ and Hamzaoui Med Amine. His mother claims that while the rapper was performing in Morocco in February 2013, two men came to her home in the hopes that she might convince her son to stop writing political songs.
Cannabis: The latest burning issue for Tunisia’s new lawmakers
Tunisia’s reformists have been given fresh hope after the country’s Justice Minister announced plans to reform the state’s controversial drug laws. Earlier this week Justice Minister Mohamed Saleh Bin Issa told journalists that the ministry would seek to revise the law 52 and approve the adoption of alternative sanctions.
One Hundred Days of Lentitude – Jomâa on His Work in Office
Citizens, politicians, analysts, and union members expecting concrete decisions and well-elaborated intitiatives in Jomâa’s press conference last Wednesday felt either marked disappointment or resignation to the Prime Minister’s consistently long-winded and half-hearted commitments to real reform.