Secular activists in Tunisia are in an uproar over a three month suspended prison sentence handed down in the case of Anis Guiga.
During Ramadan, Guiga was allegedly caught carrying open bottles of alcohol and detained for three days by police. His family has said that he was not allowed access to a lawyer during the detention.
The sentence was handed down Tuesday by a Tunisian court for "offending modesty." Prosecutors in the case said that Guiga was transporting open bottles of beer in his vehicle when he was stopped at a routine checkpoint by police.
“The accused also had a beer in his hand. So he was placed in custody because it was a flagrant offense," the prosecutor's office said, according to Tunisia Live.
However, Guiga's lawyer denies that the bottles were opened, saying that Guiga was merely transporting unopened bottles in his vehicle. He also denied claims that his client had been drinking prior to the stop. Regardless, the consumption of alcohol is not specifically prohibited during Ramadan by Tunisian law.
Furthermore, no test was done on Guiga to confirm wether or not he had actually consumed any of the alcohol. Tunisian law does technically forbid the sale of alcohol to Muslims although it is normally freely bought and sold.
Responding to the ruling, secular activists expressed their shock and disappointment.
"I was shocked when I heard about the verdict. The government says one thing but does another when it comes to secularism. It is extremely hypocritical," human rights activist and blogger Lina Ben Mhani told Tunisia Live.
Ironically, the man's arrest took place on the same day that Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebs spoke highly of the nation's secular constitution to rally public support against religious extremism following the recent deadly terrorist attack in Sousse.
Tunisia's relatively new constitution guarantees "freedom of conscience and belief," thus the consumption of alcohol during Ramadan should technically be allowed. However, if Guiga was actually intoxicated while driving, things might be different. Without the proper test, which should have been conducted by police, it remains unclear what actually happened.
Guiga's lawyer harshly criticized the police for their handling of the case saying “It is a scandal at all levels. We stop people because they have alcohol on them during Ramadan. The police have nothing else to do?"