Students facing imprisonment for homosexual acts

The Court of First Instance in Sousse sentenced on September 22nd a 22-year-old student known as Marwan to one year in prison under Article 230 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes same-sex sexual relations. Prior to the sentence, the judicial police had summoned Marwan for his alleged involvement in a murder.
During interrogation, Marwan was asked about his relationship with the murdered man. According to his lawyer, the police forced the young man to admit a homosexual relationship with the murdered. They used physical violence against him and threatened him with rape and murder charges if he did not confess to homosexual relations.
At the request of the court, Marwan was subjected to an anal examination on September 11th. According to the lawyer Marwan was intimidated by the presence of police outside examination room and was not aware that he could object to such a humiliating examination.
Amnesty International believes that there is no scientific basis for such an anal examination. This is a form of torture and ill-treatment of someone being investigated against his will. Amnesty International believes that the arrest of people solely on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or conscious private homosexual relations between adults is a grave violation of human rights. Anyone detained on this basis is a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally.