Prominent Tunisian journalist Mohamed Boughalleb was arrested Friday by police over accusations of “insulting others” on social media, according to his lawyer.
Boughalleb, a vocal critic of President Kais Saied, is the latest journalist to be detained in the North African country.
Boughalleb was summoned for questioning by a cybercrime unit following a complaint filed by a civil servant, lawyer Hamadi Zaafrani told AFP.
The complainant accused Boughalleb of damaging her reputation in Facebook posts.
Zaafrani condemned the arrest, calling it an attempt to silence journalists through state power.
The incident comes amid a growing clampdown on dissent in Tunisia.
President Saied, who seized broad powers in 2021, faces criticism for his erosion of democratic freedoms.
Several of Saied’s opponents are currently imprisoned, and around 20 journalists face charges related to their work, according to the Tunisian journalists’ union.
The arrest of Boughalleb has raised concerns among international observers who point to a decline in press freedom in Tunisia.
Once celebrated as the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movements, Tunisia’s democratic progress appears to be backsliding.
