Tunisia: Activist Fined but Faces More Charges Over Protests

A court convicted a Tunisian member of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen on Thursday of carrying an “incendiary object” and fined her $182. The woman, Amina Sboui, remains in custody as prosecutors consider filing more serious charges. Ms. Sboui, who has used the name Amina Tyler, posted topless photographs of herself online as part of a women’s rights campaign and tried to carry out a protest on May 19 in the religious center of Kairouan. She was arrested and charged with carrying a canister of pepper spray, which the court considered to be an incendiary object. Prosecutors on Thursday said that they were considering filing more serious charges against her, including desecrating a cemetery and offending public decency, her lawyer said. The case is the latest episode in the battle over Tunisia’s identity after the overthrow of the secular dictatorship in January 2011 and the subsequent rise of ultraconservative Islamists pushing for greater piety.