{"id":45105,"date":"2026-09-16T06:52:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T06:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison"},"modified":"2026-09-17T08:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T08:21:10","slug":"tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison","title":{"rendered":"Tunisian Earns Second University Degree in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Ethiopia. <\/strong> <\/span>A Tunisian inmate successfully earned his second university degree while in prison on Wednesday, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in information technology from a local university with a grade of “very good.” He is among the few prisoners in Tunisia to have received multiple university degrees in different fields during their incarceration.<\/p>\n

A scientific committee at the local university discussed the inmate’s graduation project, which he has been working on since being incarcerated in 2012, awarding him a grade of very good. Previously, in 2019, he earned a degree in management information systems from another university. The committee awarded the student a score of 17 out of 20 for his graduation project, which was supervised by a professor who communicated directly with the inmate during the research preparation period, either from within the prison or through his family, who supported him throughout his studies and transfers between prisons.<\/p>\n

Atef Shawat, the inmate’s brother, stated that his brother was convicted in a criminal case over 13 years ago when he was just 19 years old. His life and that of his family suddenly turned into a journey through courts and prisons due to what he described as “a moment of impulsive anger that led to a crime.” However, the inmate decided to transform his imprisonment from a negative space into an opportunity for higher education that he had long dreamed of.<\/p>\n

Shawat mentioned that his family “experienced an exceptional event today, as celebrations erupted in their home, and their mother received congratulations on her son’s success, distributing sweets to the attendees.” He added, “His success is the result of a collective effort between him, his family, the prison administration, the professor, and the university,” explaining that his family has been ensuring throughout the year that he has all the lessons and resources he needs, facilitating communication with the professor who helped create a conducive academic environment for the student from within the prison. He pointed out that his brother’s achievement of two university degrees “broke the stigma that usually follows inmates and their families, transforming him from a socially rejected person due to the crime he committed into a success story and a source of pride for his family.”<\/p>\n

Shawat considered that academic success “transforms the inmate from a legally pursued citizen into a citizen capable of changing his reality, making it easier for him to reintegrate into society and overcome the social stigma that usually follows him.” He emphasized that his brother has become more committed to his academic path than ever since entering prison, and that the prison administration played a role in helping him achieve a good result in the exam, as prison administrations typically allocate libraries or some rooms for inmate students to study.<\/p>\n

Regarding the possibility of the inmate receiving a general pardon or a reduction in his sentence after his academic success, the spokesperson stated that his brother “has not received a pardon or a sentence reduction since being incarcerated, but he hopes that his academic excellence will be a reason for regaining his freedom.”<\/p>\n

Tunisian law sets forth a series of conditions for granting inmates a sentence reduction or pardon, as it also protects the rights of victims or those harmed by the criminal act committed by the inmate. This requires serving at least half of the sentence before obtaining a pardon or reduction of the prison term. A general pardon is a law enacted by the legislative authority, which decides to remove the criminal nature from certain crimes and erase the penalties imposed for them for reasons related to addressing social, economic, or political situations.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Ethiopia<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Ethiopia. A Tunisian inmate successfully earned his second university degree while in prison on Wednesday, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in information technology from a local university with a grade of “very good.” He is among the few prisoners in Tunisia to have received multiple university degrees in different fields during their incarceration. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":45104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[235],"class_list":["post-45105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-ethiopia"],"yoast_head":"\nTunisian Earns Second University Degree in Prison - Ethiopia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Tunisian inmate successfully earned his second university degree while in prison on Wednesday, obtaining\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tunisian Earns Second University Degree in Prison\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Tunisian inmate successfully earned his second university degree while in prison on Wednesday, obtaining\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ethiopia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-16T06:52:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-17T08:21:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/sites\/50\/2026\/09\/sm_1789632748.292052.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1155\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Tunisian Earns Second University Degree in Prison\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-16T06:52:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-17T08:21:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison\"},\"wordCount\":622,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/sites\/50\/2026\/09\/sm_1789632748.292052.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ethiopia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ethiopia\/all-news\/tunisian-earns-second-university-degree-in-prison\",\"name\":\"Tunisian Earns Second University Degree in Prison - 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