Former referee of the first division of the Tunisian football championship, Nidhal, 29, lost everything after a conviction for homosexuality: he has thus served three months in prison but not only. When he was released from prison, he found himself without a job, but also without a family.
Having testified to face uncovered in the report of the French site Konbini on the situation of homosexuals in Tunisia, the young man is now hunted by his family, he told HuffPost Tunisia.
Members of his family, guided by his father, landed at his home and abused him by accusing him of defiling the clan’s reputation. They promised to “clean the blood of the family,” says Nidhal.
The young man has taken refuge with the Shams association, but he has nothing left, even his belongings have been stolen by his family.
Became persona non grata among his relatives, having no job, threatened, Nidhal does not regret yet to have testified in the open: “Until when should we hide? We are not criminals to be summoned to live in hiding, “he castigates.
Nidhal did not have the audacity to appear before, preferring to deny his homosexuality to his family as well as his professional community who suspected his sexual orientation, he says. After living in secret, he chose to come out of the shadows, to assume everything. The price is expensive to pay: we also refuse to use it because of his criminal record.
A campaign, organized by Shams, was launched to support the young man through a call for donations to help him, among other things, to leave Tunisia.
The young man reluctantly undertakes steps to obtain a right of asylum in a European country: “I have no other choice but to leave,” he laments.
“I am very attached to my country, I never wanted to leave it despite the opportunities I had before to study or work abroad. I always prefer to stay with mine. I have to leave here but the heart is bruised, “he says.