Tunisia: LGBT community leader flees to France over death threats

Former presidential candidate, rights activist and leader of LGBT community in Tunisia has fled the country for France arguing that he had received threats to his life.

Mounir Baatour, a candidate at last year presidential elections has told Thomson Reuters Foundation he had received threats and had to flee to France where he was granted political asylum.

“The police contacted me and said they considered the threat as very serious,” he said by telephone from France.

It is unclear who made the threats but Baatour, who is a lawyer by profession, and his LGBT and rights group Shams, have been under stress in Tunisia, a country which has penalized homosexuality to up to three years.

Only seven per cent of Tunisians approve the homosexuality, according to a recent survey by Arab Barometer. Most view it as sickness, Baatour argued.

In 2018, there were 127 convictions in the country – up by 61 percent from the previous year – relating to incidents of same-sex intimacy, Baatour’s Sham has indicated.

The former presidential candidate, the first ever gay candidate in Tunisia’s history, intends to continue leading his organization from exile, pledging to continue to fight for the rights of LGBT in Tunisia.

The activist is planning to seek a job in France as lawyer.