Tunisian Blogger Sentenced For Speaking Out Against Military Officials Financial Abuse

A Tunisian blogger Yassine Ayari has been sentenced to a year in prison for defaming the military, in a case that has been criticised by human rights groups.

The sentence was handed down on Tuesday by Tunisian military court, but Ayari, 33, was arrested on December 25 on his return from Paris, following an initial three-year sentence passed the previous month in his absence.

Ayari told the court before the new ruling that the charges were a "settling of scores against me for criticising officers in the army". He had accused officers and Defence Ministry officials of financial abuse.

The London-based rights group Amnesty International described the one year prison sentence imposed on Yassine Ayari by a military court as "limits on freedom of expression in Tunisia,"

It said that during the session, when defence lawyers complained that journalists were not allowed to be present at the re-trial, the court's president, who is a civil judge, responded by saying: "This not a court, this is a [military] barracks."

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the court demanding Ayari's immediate release, saying the conviction was a violation of freedom of expression

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