Three European feminist activists were sentenced to four months in a Tunisian jail Wednesday, after they protested topless in the capital city on May 29.
Marguerite Stern, Pauline Hillier and Josephine Markmann are all members of the Ukranian-based group FEMEN, a crew of activists known for their bare-breasted protests.
The three women were on trial for demonstrating at fellow FEMEN member Amina Tyler's trial, after the young Tunisian girl uploaded topless photos online, in one last protest before she went off to journalism school.
Stern, Hillier and Markmann were given a sentencing of four months and one day in jail for "an attack on public morals and indecency," one of the lawyers on the case, Souheib Bahri, told Reuters.
Tyler, who was arrested on May 19 after she draped a banner outside a mosque bearing feminist rhetoric, still awaits trial.
Her fellow FEMEN members staged a demonstration in front of the Justice of Ministry on May 29, while Tyler was inside at one of her initial trials.
In the primarily Muslim country of Tunisia, where conservatism dominates societal culture and women dress modestly, the semi-nude demonstration was not taken lightly.
Disgusted passerby tried to cover the women up, and one Tunisian citizen said the protest was, "against our religion and the traditions of Arab-Muslim Tunisian society."
The demonstrations incited anger amongst many religious activists in the country, who rallied outside a courthouse during the three European women's first trial.
The French government asked the Tunisian court to spare the activists, who have received little sympathy from the Middle Eastern country.
"There are laws to be respected, but their act does not require major punishment," French Foreign Minster Laurent Fabius told French radio station Europe 1.
Despite Europe's pleas, the three women will begin serving their jail time in Tunisia immediately.
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