NSFW (Not Safe for Work – pas sûr pour le travail)
Reuters is reporting that a Tunisian court has sentenced a rap singer to two years in jail in absentia for insulting the police in a case likely to fuel debate over free speech under the Islamist-led government.
The singer, known as Weld el 15, is on the run. Two of his associates, singers Mohamed Hedi Belgueyed and Sabrine Klibi, were in court when they received suspended sentences of six months each, a Justice Ministry source said on Friday.
Belgueyed and Klibi were arrested earlier this month for a music video in which lyrics sung by Weld el 15 describe police as dogs and accuse them of using violence unjustifiably.
NSFW (Not Safe for Work – pas sûr pour le travail)
The two men asked the judge to pardon them before the sentences were handed down at Thursday’s court proceedings.
“I was only using the language of the police. They have harassed me verbally and physically. As an artist, the only way I could answer them is through art. I gave them a violent art,” Weld el 15 said in a video posted on Facebook.
Read more at Yahoo News.
Like The Burton Wire on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @TheBurtonWire.
