BOSTON GLOBE: TUNIS, Tunisia—Two men have been convicted and sentenced to prison in Tunisia for posting Facebook images of the Prophet Muhammad in a compromising position, a court decision that drew support Friday from the presidency of this once staunchly secular country.
Jaber Majeri and Ghazi Jribi were convicted on March 28 by a Tunisian court for "insulting the sacred" after they posted images of the prophet purportedly being intimate with one of his wives, Aisha. They were each sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and fined $800.
The verdict, which was made public Thursday, has been condemned by some as an attack on freedom of expression and a mark of the rising tide of religious conservatism in the country since a popular uprising ousted a dictator a year ago.
Since the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a moderate Islamist party Ennahda won elections in October but has promised not to enshrine Islamic law in the new constitution. That has put it at odds with a vocal minority of hardline Muslims known as Salafis.
Tunisian society has become polarized between those demanding more religion in public life and those who want to preserve secular traditions. » | Bouazza Ben Bouazza | Associated Press | Friday, April 06, 2012
