TUNIS: A Tunisian jailed for posting caricatures of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) online is to stay behind bars despite a presidential pardon, pending a separate trial which his supporters yesterday said amounted to “judicial harassment”.
“I contacted the judge investigating the case at the court in Mahdia who confirmed the embezzlement charges relating to when Jabeur (Mejri) worked for the SNCFT (Tunisian railways),” his lawyer Ahmed Mselmi said.
The judge issued a warrant for him to remain in detention on January 9, Mselmi added, even though the case dates back to “well before Jabeur’s imprisonment” in March 2012.
Mejri, 29, was sentenced to seven and half years in jail for posting cartoons of the prophet on his Facebook page, in a case that sparked heated controversy in Tunisia.
Neither Mselmi, the defendant’s family, his support group or even the presidency had been told about the embezzlement case against him.
AFP
