Tunisia / Middle East & North Africa

New York, September 13, 2024—Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release commentator Sonia Dahmani, following an appeals court decision Tuesday to uphold her conviction for spreading false news with a reduced eight-month sentence, and allow all journalists and news outlets to cover the upcoming presidential elections freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “The…

New York, July 9, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a Tunisian court’s sentencing of lawyer and political commentator Sonia Dahmani to one year in prison on Saturday and calls for her immediate release. “The sentencing of Tunisian lawyer and commentator Sonia Dahmani to one year in prison for her political commentary is…

New York, May 23, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release radio journalists Borhen Bsaies and Mourad Zghidi after a Tunis court convicted them on May 22 of defamation and spreading false news, and sentenced them to one year in prison. “CPJ is deeply concerned that…

New York, May 20, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Houssem Hajlaoui, co-founder and publisher of local independent news website Inkyfada, who was arrested over social media posts from 2020-2023. “CPJ is deeply concerned after Tunisian police arrested journalist Houssem Hajlaoui over old social media…

New York, May 15, 2024 — Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalists Sonia Dahmani, Borhen Bsaies, and Mourad Zghidi, drop all charges against them, and stop preventing reporters from doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Between May 11 and 13, Tunisian police arrested and released two additional journalists amid…

New York, April 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Mohamed Boughalleb after he was convicted by a Tunis court of defamation and sentenced to six months in prison on Wednesday. “The sentencing of journalist Mohamed Boughalleb to six months in prison over social media posts…

New York, April 3, 2024—Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Mohamed Boughalleb and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Boughalleb, a reporter with local independent channel Carthage Plus and local independent radio station Cap FM, was arrested by Tunisian police on March 22 and charged with “defaming…

New York, January 4, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Tunisian authorities arrested journalist Samir Sassi and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. On Wednesday, January 3, police raided and searched the home of Sassi, a reporter at Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera, in the capital Tunis and arrested him, according to…

New York, January 2, 2024—Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Zied el-Heni and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On December 28, police arrested el-Heni, a prominent columnist and political commentator for the daily “Émission Impossible” show on the independent radio station IFM, after he responded to…

New York, September 5, 2023—CPJ has called on Tunisian authorities to release journalist Khalifa Guesmi, who was taken into custody on Sunday to serve his five-year prison sentence on charges of disclosing national security information.  “The September 3 arrest of journalist Khalifa Guesmi is a clear attack on journalists and the freedom of the press…