TUNIS — A court in Grombalia has decided to acquit Weld El 15, said the lawyer after his client appealed a four-month jail term handed down at the start of December. “This ruling proves that a part of the justice system is independent, and I welcome this kind of verdict,” Mrabet said. Weld El 15 – real name Ala Yacoubi – has been held in La Mornaguia prison in a Tunis suburb since being convicted on Dec. 5. For his release to be processed, an order to that effect must be sent to the prison, a procedure that can take several hours. Weld El 15 and fellow rapper Klay BBJ were originally convicted without even being notified of a trial having taken place. The charges against them related to songs they performed at a concert in Hammamet east of Tunis last summer. Klay BBJ has since been retried twice and was finally acquitted in October. – AP
