The ruling has shocked Tunisia: 56-year-old labourer Saber Chouchane was sentenced to death over posts that criticised president Kaïs Saied on Facebook. The ruling is unprecedented in Tunisia despite its increasingly autocratic political course. Tunisia was shaken by an unprecedented court ruling on Friday: a 56-year-old man has been sentenced to death over posts on a Facebook account used to criticise Tunisian president Kaïs Saied. The Tunisian regime has severely restricted freedom of speech and other democratic rights as Saied tightened his grip on power in recent years. Death sentences have been occasionally handed down in Tunisia, but none have been carried out for decades, according to news agency Reuters.