Thousands of Tunisians have held a demonstration in the capital Tunis to express support for a woman allegedly raped by police officers but charged with public “indecency” after filing a complaint.

Angry protesters, mostly women, gathered outside the courthouse on Tuesday, when the 27-year-old woman was being questioned by a magistrate for violating modesty laws.

Her supporters denounced the public indecency claims, which they said were aimed at forcing the young woman to drop her complaint against the officers.

Press TV

The woman said three police officers stopped her and her fiancé in a car in Tunis on September 3. One of the officers took her fiancé to an ATM machine to extort money from him, while the other two raped her in the car, she recounted.

Only after the woman filed a complaint against the officers, who were later charged with rape and extortion, they said the couple was found in an “immoral position” in the car.

Amnesty International has criticized the Tunisian legislation over the issue.

“At best, charging the victim of a rape by police officers instead of protecting her from intimidation and stigma highlights the deep flaws on Tunisian law and criminal justice system,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui of Amnesty International.

“At worst, it is an insidious attempt to discredit a rape victim and protect those she accused of raping her.”


If the court found the woman guilty of indecency, she would be imprisoned for six months. But if the policemen were found guilty of rape, they would face heavy jail terms or death sentence.

Salah Eddine al-Jorshi of the League of Human Rights in Tunisia stressed that the case has shocked people because the woman was raped by police officers.

“But when the verdict was announced, we were shocked even more that they tried to take this to another level by targeting the victim herself,” Jorshi stated.