Late on Wednesday, a Tunisian anti-terrorism unit apprehended Al Jazeera reporter Samir Sassi, according to a statement by the Tunisian journalists’ union.
The unit conducted a search of his residence, seizing not only his computer and phone but also those belonging to his family members, as reported on Thursday.
The union condemned the arrest as “arbitrary” and hinted at the possibility of Sassi facing investigation for a suspected terrorism charge. This assumption arises due to the fact that his lawyer has been denied access to him for a period of 48 hours.
Lotfi Hajji, Al Jazeera’s Tunis bureau chief, took to his Facebook account to express that security forces did not disclose the reason for Sassi’s arrest to his family.
In a separate incident on Monday, Tunisia’s judicial authorities ordered the pre-trial detention of journalist Zied El-Heni on charges of defamation. This action came after El-Heni criticized the country’s trade minister.
The freedom of speech and media had been considered crucial achievements for Tunisians following the 2011 revolution, which ousted autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the “Arab Spring” protests.
