A Tunisian deputy, accused of sexually harassing a student and whose actions had triggered a Tunisian #Metoo on social networks, was sentenced on Friday November 12 to one year in prison, according to the victim's lawyer.
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Zouhair Makhlouf, an independent deputy, was photographed in October 2019 in Nabeul, in central-eastern Tunisia, masturbating in his car, by a high school student who accused him of harassment.
According to the student who had posted the photos on social networks, he had followed her on the way to high school.
The deputy, whom the images showed wearing a T-shirt of his party at the time, Qalb Tounès, his pants down and his gaze turned towards the young girl, had assured that being diabetic, he had to urinate urgently in a bottle.
One year in prison
The Nabeul court, before which he was tried, sentenced him to imprisonment for "
sexual harassment
" and "
public indecency
" and issued a committal warrant against him, Naïma told AFP Chabbouh, the young girl's lawyer. The viral dissemination of the images of the incident had triggered an unprecedented wave of testimonies from victims of harassment and sexual assault on social networks, with the hashtag #EnaZeda, "
me too
", in reference to the #Metoo movement triggered in the States -United in 2017 by the Harvey Weinstein affair.
A month after the opening of an investigation in mid-October 2019, dozens of Tunisian women demonstrated in Tunis to protest against the presence of MP Makhlouf at the first session of the newly elected parliament. In October 2020, Tunisian NGOs sent a letter to the Superior Council of Magistrates to express concern about “
many unusual procedural violations
”, intended according to her to protect the parliamentarian from prosecution.
They had notably underlined that the duration of the investigation had largely exceeded nine months, "
whereas in this case, solid evidence was provided
".
Reacting to the sentence handed down on Friday, the association for the defense of women's rights Aswat Nissa said in a statement "
satisfied with this historic judicial decision, which is the culmination of two years of struggle in this case
".
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“
This conviction represents a triumph for the feminist movement in Tunisia and for all survivors of gender-based violence, since it puts an end to the culture of impunity,
” added the NGO.
Tunisia is considered a pioneer of women's rights in the Arab and Muslim world.
But rare are the victims to file a complaint when sexual assault is punishable by law and since July 2017, sexual harassment in public places is punishable by one year in prison.
