Shams vs. Shams: Rupture in Tunisian gay rights advocacy group
Shams co-founder and a current leader trade accusations of illegality
The Tunisian LGBTQI+ rights group Shams has long been divisive and controversial, not only with conservative Tunisians, but also with other Tunisian human rights advocates.
Now the turmoil is within Shams itself, or at least between two leaders and two factions, each claiming to represent the real Shams.
A press release issued in late August under the name of the Executive Board of the Shams Association denounced “defamation practices carried out by the former president of the association, Mounir Baatour, targeting the current Executive Director of Shams, our colleague Bouhdid Belhedi.”
Both Baatour and Belhedi are currently in Europe after fleeing from Tunisia for safety.
The group’s communiqué accused Baatour of “several acts of abuse, confirmed by numerous victims, primarily involving sexual harassment and blackmail [which] essentially consisted of forcing beneficiaries to perform acts of a sexual nature in exchange for access to the association’s services.”
Baatour had been ousted as president at a general meeting of Shams in 2021, the communiqué stated.
The press release added that Baatour responded to his ouster by launching “a coup plot, carried out by hijacking the association’s communication channels and disseminating a false press release, completely unrelated to reality, announcing the holding of a supposedly fictitious general meeting of which we have no knowledge.”
Baatour sued Belhedi, accusing him of embezzlement — a charge that Belhedi and his supporters deny.
In response to the Aug. 22 press release, Baatour, the co-founder of Shams, issued a statement of his own, declaring that:
“Mr. Mounir Baatour remains the sole legitimate president and co-founder of Shams. No minutes of a general meeting, no regular statutory deliberations, and no legal decisions have ever terminated his term. The alleged decisions invoked by Bouhdid Belhedi are fabricated to justify his power grab. Our statutes, archives, and official channels—www.shams-tunisie.org and the Shams Tunisia Facebook page—unequivocally confirm the presidency of Maître Baatour.”
Baatour alleges that Belhedi supported himself by working as an escort and offering sexual services online:
“Bouhdid Belhedi claims to have been the victim of so-called ‘sexual harassment’ and asserts that he was ‘forced’ to engage in escorting and sexting to support himself financially. These accusations are completely false and constitute slanderous denunciations. We have irrefutable evidence demonstrating that Bouhdid Belhedi voluntarily organized and offered sexual services online for payment. The discussions and exchanges we have show that he initiated these conversations himself, set his rates, and negotiated the terms of his ‘services.’ He explicitly acknowledged in his messages that he acted ‘out of financial necessity.’ However, this argument, which he now uses as justification, is the same as that put forward by anyone who deliberately chooses to prostitute themselves. No one coerced him, no one forced him: he made his decisions freely and in full awareness.”
Baatour repeated his accusation the Belhed embezzled Shams funds, stating that he “withdrew more than 50,000 Tunisian dinars in cash, directly using the association’s bank card, without any accounting justification, without statutory authorization, and without any mandate. These fraudulent withdrawals, along with other serious irregularities, are at the heart of [a] judicial investigation opened in Tunisia for aggravated breach of trust, embezzlement of charity funds, money laundering, and illicit enrichment.”
An English translation of the Aug. 22 anti-Baatour press release is HERE.
An English translation of Baatour’s Aug. 28 anti-Belhedi press release is HERE.
Clashes with other LGBTQI+ rights groups
In Tunisia, opposition to Shams has existed since at least 2018, when members of the Tunisian Coalition for LGBTQI+ Rights issued a statement disassociating themselves from Shams, citing disagreements over its practice of outing politicians, sexual harassment and Israel. They stated that coalition members, as well as other allied organizations, have repeatedly received complaints of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior towards minors, committed by Baatour.
They also objected to “the position of the president of Shams association which calls for total normalization with the Zionist entity, which goes against our principles and our ethics.”
At the time, Shams stated: “Shams does not respond to what it sees as slander and defamation by associations that claim to be LGBT, but whose founding documents do not mention anything about LGBT rights. It is understandable that the international media success of Shams and its advocacy for the LGBT community has aroused their envy.”
The anti-Baatour faction of Shams issued this statement. (Here translated from French.)
Aug. 22, 2025
From the Executive Board of the Shams Association – Tunisia
We have become aware, within the Executive Board of the Shams Association, elected at the general meeting held in 2021, of certain defamation practices carried out by the former president of the association, Mounir Baatour, targeting the current Executive Director of Shams, our colleague Bouhdid Belhedi.
These attacks are based on court documents unilaterally prepared by the State as part of the proceedings initiated against him since October 2024, which took a serious turn following his summons for questioning on February 4, 2025.
Given our in-depth knowledge and mastery of the facts relating to our Executive Director, Bouhdid Belhedi, who regularly shares with us all the details used against him in these fabricated legal proceedings; and in view of the clear exploitation of these lawsuits for defamation purposes by the former president of the association, Mounir Baatour; and considering the factual data we observed in the exercise of our responsibilities within the association’s structures, as well as the protection strategies implemented, particularly for the benefit of LGBTQ people who benefit from Shams’ services and all of our partners; and due to the persistent exploitation of these elements by Mounir Baatour to settle personal scores with Bouhdid Belhedi, the association’s executive director;
We are obliged to provide the following clarifications and response:
1. Mounir Baatour has no longer been the president of the Shams Association, nor even a member of it, since the 2021 general meeting. This meeting made this decision due to the serious damage he had caused to the association’s reputation. He was subjected to several acts of abuse, confirmed by numerous victims, primarily involving sexual harassment and blackmail against beneficiaries, which we were able to document. These abuses essentially consisted of forcing beneficiaries to perform acts of a sexual nature in exchange for access to the association’s services.
The veracity of these acts was confirmed by the numerous evidence provided to the association, including conversations with beneficiaries, revealing in his explicit statements that he exerted pressure and exploited his influence to impose his sexual fantasies in exchange for the association’s services.
2. Mounir Baatour’s current allegations that he has regained his position within the Shams Association are completely unfounded. This is a coup plot, carried out by hijacking the association’s communication channels and disseminating a false press release, completely unrelated to reality, announcing the holding of a supposedly fictitious general meeting of which we have no knowledge.
This action came after he had exerted all sorts of pressure, harassment, and blackmail on the association’s executive director, exploiting and harassing him for more than four years. These practices intensified after Bouhdid’s arrival in France, when he found himself in a precarious situation and in urgent need following his hasty departure from Tunisia. Mounir then took full advantage of his vulnerability to escalate his blackmail and continue his harassment, including sexual harassment.
The latter’s decision to sue him triggered a brutal revenge attack on his part, claiming that the association’s structures had dismissed him in 2021 due to the abuses he had committed against Bouhdid Belhedi.
Bouhdid regularly provided us with evidence of these acts: sexual harassment, blackmail, exploitation of his economic and social vulnerability, and the imposition of his fantasies under the explicit or implicit threat of using his connections with certain influential individuals in Tunisia and France. We observed and documented all of these exchanges, as well as all the offenses he committed against him.
Regarding the legal case used by Mounir Baatour to defame the association’s executive director, we confirm the following:
1. The association’s members are fully informed of all financial transactions carried out by the executive director, Bouhdid Belhedi, who has always demonstrated complete transparency towards the board, both at the association and personal levels.
We affirm without a shadow of a doubt that the accusations of former president Mounir Baatour, that the executive director embezzled association funds, are completely unfounded and constitute nothing more than an abuse of power in his position as president of the Association.
They constitute nothing more than an exploitation of accusations fabricated by the authoritarian state to settle its personal scores.
Mounir Baatour’s bad faith is clearly evident in his latest actions, notably the dissemination of personal photos of the executive director, obtained over the years through blackmail and threats, disseminated in a humiliating manner with the aim of tarnishing his image and exerting additional pressure on him, as well as his contradictions in press releases, including one in which the defamation is explicit, accusing Shams’ executive director, Bouhdid Belhedi, of being an “escort” and of providing “hot lines” and sexual services. This undermines his dignity and integrity.
2. The association’s executive board emphasizes that the legal documents used by Mounir Baatour are nothing more than a tool used by the state, prepared unilaterally, excluding any evidence or element that could exonerate the executive director.
These documents are based on deliberate omissions, such as the absence of the auditor’s reports, or on suspicious characterizations (particularly concerning certain of Bouhdid’s contracts) that the state claimed were “questionable,” even though they are perfectly clear and transparent.
These documents lack any legitimacy since they systematically ignore the defenses of Bouhdid Belhedi, who, with the support of the entire executive board, chose to boycott the proceedings due to the lack of guarantees for a fair trial, and in order to protect the association’s beneficiaries and service providers, who could be put in danger if the investigations continue or intensify.
We recall that the beneficiaries are LGBTQ+ individuals specifically targeted by the Tunisian state, and that further investigations—something Mounir Baatour is now irresponsibly pushing toward—could lead to their identification and expose them to real danger.
3. We recall that civil society associations in Tunisia, given the context in which they operate, have implemented administrative and field protection mechanisms aimed at guaranteeing the safety of beneficiaries and avoiding exposing them to risks due to the precariousness of their legal and social situation. All our actions were carried out on this basis.
Bouhdid Belhedi fully assumed this responsibility for protection, taking personal risks to preserve the anonymity of the beneficiaries, notably by transferring the funds related to the care through his own bank account.
This approach can only be described as courageous and responsible, since it was undertaken to protect the association’s beneficiaries. We emphasize that Bouhdid Belhedi could have provided the state with all the documents proving his innocence, but he chose to assume this responsibility alone so as not to endanger the beneficiaries.
4. The association chose not to make all this information public in order to protect its 146 members spread across Tunisia, particularly in the current political context where the authorities are waiting for the opportunity to launch a repressive campaign against LGBTQI+ people.
Mounir Baatour’s actions today only serve the Tunisian state and its repressive policies against LGBTQI+ people, providing it with a pretext to intensify persecution.
5. We reaffirm that the association’s executive director, contrary to Mounir Baatour’s claims, has never misappropriated Shams funds. The Tunisian state’s accusations are based solely on a manipulated interpretation of elements intended to prosecute it, an authoritarian interpretation devoid of any connection with transparent and protective associative practice, committed and contextualized according to the requirements of the field.
Our work, led by the Executive Director, is above all fieldwork, which has always taken into account the need to protect all individuals connected to the association, including LGBTQI+ individuals.
We remind you that Shams, as well as the Tunisian Association for Euro-Mediterranean Studies (our fiscal host), have access to all internal administrative and financial documents (which contain the personal data of LGBTQI+ individuals, including individuals with non-normative gender identities or expressions), and that we will not share them with the LGBTI-phobic state in order to protect its beneficiaries.
The Shams Executive Board expresses its full solidarity with the state’s prosecution [against] the actions of Mounir Baatour. We reaffirm our unwavering support for Bouhdid Belhedi and remain united and in solidarity.
Baatour issued this rebuttal (here translated from French):
Aug. 28, 2025
Official Response to Lies and Manipulation
Clarification on Bouhdid Belhedi’s False Press Release and the Criminal Risks Faced by His Supporters
For several days, a false press release dated August 22, 2025, written by Bouhdid Belhedi and published under the name of the Shams Association, has been circulating on social media. This false text impersonates our association, attempts to discredit its legitimate president, and seeks to divert attention from the serious misconduct committed by its author. The Shams Association strongly denounces this manipulation and sets the record straight.
Contrary to what this false press release claims, Mr. Mounir Baatour remains the sole legitimate president and co-founder of Shams. No minutes of a general meeting, no regular statutory deliberations, and no legal decisions have ever terminated his term. The alleged decisions invoked by Bouhdid Belhedi are fabricated to justify his power grab. Our statutes, archives, and official channels—www.shams-tunisie.org and the Shams Tunisia Facebook page—unequivocally confirm the presidency of Maître Baatour.
We respond firmly to the most serious accusations contained in this false press release. Bouhdid Belhedi claims to have been the victim of so-called “sexual harassment” and asserts that he was “forced” to engage in escorting and sexting to support himself financially. These accusations are completely false and constitute slanderous denunciations. We have irrefutable evidence demonstrating that Bouhdid Belhedi voluntarily organized and offered sexual services online for payment. The discussions and exchanges we have show that he initiated these conversations himself, set his rates, and negotiated the terms of his “services.” He explicitly acknowledged in his messages that he acted “out of financial necessity.” However, this argument, which he now uses as justification, is the same as that put forward by anyone who deliberately chooses to prostitute themselves. No one coerced him, no one forced him: he made his decisions freely and in full awareness.
These false accusations have only one purpose: to create a diversion and mask the reality of the financial facts. The investigation conducted by the Tunisian Commission for Financial Analysis and the Tunis Economic Brigade revealed major embezzlement. Contrary to the insinuations contained in his press release, Bouhdid Belhedi did not “transfer” funds to protect the association: he withdrew more than 50,000 Tunisian dinars in cash, directly using the association’s bank card, without any accounting justification, without statutory authorization, and without any mandate. These fraudulent withdrawals, along with other serious irregularities, are at the heart of the judicial investigation opened in Tunisia for aggravated breach of trust, embezzlement of charity funds, money laundering, and illicit enrichment.
But the legal consequences of his actions extend beyond Tunisia. Bouhdid Belhedi, now living in France, also faces serious criminal prosecution in France. According to Article 113-7 of the French Penal Code, French law applies to any offense committed by a foreigner abroad when it involves French victims or French public funds. However, several of the injured donors reside in France, and a portion of the embezzled funds came from French public subsidies. These facts open the door to prosecution in France for breach of trust, fraud involving public funds, money laundering, and malicious denunciation. The competent jurisdictions include the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, the Economic Division of the Paris Judicial Court, and the prosecutor in the perpetrator’s jurisdiction of residence. The risks are considerable: Bouhdid Belhedi faces several years of imprisonment and heavy fines, in Tunisia as well as in France.
We also warn the signatories of this false press release. By publicly supporting Bouhdid Belhedi and his false statements, they incur their own criminal liability. If this press release falls into the hands of the Tunisian justice system, the individuals who signed it could be considered accomplices in the embezzlement and be subject to in-depth investigations by the investigating judge. These maneuvers protect no one: they expose all the signatories to serious legal and financial risks.
As for Abdelbaki Mejri, alias “Bakus,” who presents himself as “president of Shams,” we recall that he has never been elected to any position within the association. A refugee in Germany for more than eight years, his name does not appear on any official document or general meeting. His position is not in the interest of the association but rather out of personal connivance: he is the former intimate partner of Bouhdid Belhedi and acts out of loyalty to him, not for Shams or the LGBTQI+ community.
The Shams Association will no longer tolerate any attempts to usurp its identity, falsify its official communications, or defame its president and members. Anyone who contributes to the dissemination of these lies, the concealment of embezzled funds, or the obstruction of judicial investigations will be held personally liable and faces civil and criminal prosecution in Tunisia and France.
We invite our members, partners, and supporters to refer only to our official channels: www.shams-tunisie.org, contact@shams-tunisie.org, and our Shams Tunisia Facebook page. Any other communication should be considered fraudulent.
The Shams Association reaffirms its unwavering commitment to defending the rights and dignity of LGBTQI+ people, ensuring transparency in the management of its funds, and pursuing all necessary action against those who have betrayed the community’s trust. No lies, no manipulation, no smear campaign will distract Shams from its mission.
Legitimate Office
Attorney Mounir Baatour
President of the Shams Association
