A Tunisian court has remanded journalists Borhen Bssais and Mourad Zeghidi in custody following their arrest for critical comments, tribunal spokesman Mohamed Zitouna announced on Wednesday.
Bssais and Zeghidi were detained on Saturday under a decree criminalizing the “spreading of false information.” Zeghidi faces investigation over social media statements from February and support for fellow detained journalist Mohamed Boughalleb, a critic of President Kais Saied. Bssais is accused of harming the president through radio broadcasts and online statements from 2019 to 2022.
Their trial is scheduled for May 22. Both journalists are prosecuted under a law ratified by Saied in September 2022, which imposes up to five years in prison for using social media to “produce, spread, or disseminate false news” and slander others.
Journalists and opposition figures argue this law suppresses dissent. Since its enactment, over 60 journalists, lawyers, and opposition members have been prosecuted under it, according to the National Union of Tunisian Journalists.
On the night of their arrest, masked police also detained lawyer and commentator Sonia Dahmani and forcibly arrested another lawyer at the Tunisian bar association.
The bar association president, Hatem Meziou, has called for an end to the “abuse of power” and “violence” against lawyers. The journalists’ union condemned the arrests as violations of freedom of expression and press, criticizing Decree 54 as a deliberate attack on press freedom and public debate.
In response to the arrests, the private radio channel IFM suspended the program hosted by Zeghidi and Bssais. The European Union expressed concern over the recent arrests of civil society figures, indicating a tightening clampdown on freedoms under Saied since his 2021 power grab.
