Tunisians celebrate landmark ruling against president
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has lost his legal case against a citizen, a decision being hailed as a first for civil rights progress there.
TUNIS, Tunisia — A Tunisian court set a major precedent recently by ruling against the country's president in a lawsuit he had filed claiming an activist's comments threatened and offended him.
Many legislators and activists alike are praising the outcome. An Arabic hashtag meaning “Tunisia is better after the revolution” has cropped up on social media eight years after the Jasmine Revolution, which marked the beginning of the Arab Spring and toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. For many Tunisians, the situation today is much brighter in many areas such as security, politics, freedom of expression and democracy.
One major indicator of this newfound freedom came Jan. 25, when the Tunisian Court of Appeals dismissed a 4-year-old case filed by President Beji Caid Essebsi against Tunisian activist Imed Omda Dghij, and ordered Essebsi to pay the legal expenses.
This ruling has set a precedent in the Arab world and Africa.
