10:11 13/06/2013

MOSCOW, June 13 (RAPSI) - A court in Tunis has sentenced three European feminists to four months and one day in prison for staging a topless protest outside the Tunisian Palace of Justice on May 29, AFP reports, citing one of the girls' lawyers.

The court found them guilty of "an attack on public morals and indecency," Souheib Bahri told AFP.

Pauline Hillier and Marguerite Stern from France and Josephine Markmann from Germany, members of the controversial Femen protest group, were detained after they staged a topless protest at the Palace of Justice. They waved banners and displayed messages on their bare chests to show solidarity with Femen member Amina Tyler, chanting words of support.

The three women risked facing a maximum of one year in prison.

Amina Tyler was detained on May 19 and prosecuted after reportedly writing "Femen" on a wall in the religious centre of Kairouan, where a conference of the Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) radical movement was to be held. She was planning to hold a traditional Femen action campaign at the city's central mosque and was found holding a can of pepper spray. She was later accused of carrying "a flammable or explosive item" and fined $182.

Members of the Ukrainian feminist movement Femen stage topless protests not only in Ukraine, but also in several other countries. It registered in France in 2012 and also has branches in Germany.

Via: rapsinews.com

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