Concerns over sodomy conviction

A Tunisian appeals court has upheld the conviction of two men accused of sodomy but reduced their sentence to one year in prison. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has noted that the conviction contradicts the rights to privacy and non-discrimination under international law, which are also enshrined in Tunisia's 2014 Constitution. Police in June arrested the men on suspicion of ‘same-sex conduct’ in Le Kef, a city 175km southwest of Tunis, after one of them filed a complaint against the other over an outstanding loan. They were sentenced to two years' imprisonment for sodomy under article 230 of the penal code. The ruling, which HRW reviewed, was based on the defendants' alleged ‘confessions’ during the police investigation which they both repudiated in court. ‘The court's insistence on upholding sodomy charges against the defendants is a grave injustice,’ said Rasha Younes, a LGBT researcher at HRW.

HRW statement