Tunisia slashes 30-year jail terms for pot-smoking trio
Human rights organisations and Tunisians on social media had denounced the 30-year prison sentences as too harsh and called for changes to the law
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
A court significantly reduced 30-year jail terms for three Tunisians convicted of smoking cannabis, in a case that sparked debate in the country about repressive drug laws. The appeals court in Kef, in northwestern Tunisia, sentenced two of the men to one year in prison and the third to two years, their lawyers said. The three had been found guilty on January 20 of organised consumption of cannabis in a public space. They had shared a joint in a disused locker room after a football match between friends in a former stadium in the marginalised rural area of Tunisia, their defence team said. In response to the outcry, politicians have called for the law to be relaxed, and several bills are being drafted, one of them aiming to legalise the production and sale of cannabis.
