Tunisian LGBT+ activist jailed for six months after reporting police harassment

Human rights advocates are sounding alarm after a prominent Tunisian LGBT+ activist was jailed for pursuing a harassment complaint against the police.

Rania Amdouni, 26, was arrested on 27 February and sentenced to six months in prison for shouting outside a police station after officers refused to register her harassment complaint, Human Rights Watch reported.

According to her lawyer the complaint related to the repeated harassment she said police officers subjected her to, both in public and online.

When she tried to confront police at the station, officers reportedly ridiculed her appearance and harassed her based on her presumed sexual orientation.

“Eight police officers surrounded her and repeatedly insulted her, and one told her, ‘You are a homosexual, you will not win against us, and we will not allow you to defame police officers,”’ said a lawyer who witnessed the situation.

She is now being held in a women’s prison in Manouba, west of Tunis, where her lawyer said guards repeatedly enter her cell at night to harass and threaten her due to her gender expression.

“Rania was sentenced six months for insulting police and abuse of morals,” said Saida Guarach, who is among the legal team representing Amdouni.

The charge of insulting a police officer is punishable by up to one year in prison under article 125 of the penal code.

Source: PinkNews