Blaspheming apostates? The lines between insulting religion and leaving Islam in post-Arab Spring Tunisia

Abstract

In the wake of the 2010-2011 Arab Spring uprisings, six Tunisians of Muslim parentage were prosecuted in quick succession for blasphemy in a series of unprecedented trials. This article focuses specifically on the link between blasphemy and apostasy in the prosecutions of Tunisians in the 2011-2013 period. Some defendants accepted the link between blasphemy and apostasy, while others rejected being labeled apostates. Through an analysis of these cases, I conclude that the defendants who embraced the label of apostate were more severely punished by the local judicial system than those who rejected it. I also explore the possibility that those who openly assume an apostate position situated outside the Islamic community are also simply less well connected, and thus ill-advised, as to how to navigate a legal system whose public order and public decency articles allow judges significant latitude.