Tunisia issues fresh 3½-year jail terms to journalists Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies
New York, January 26, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the three-and-a-half year prison sentences handed down to prominent Tunisian journalists Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies for tax evasion, which are widely seen as in retaliation for their reporting. Zghidi and Baaies, who work for the local independent radio station IFM, have been behind bars…
Tunisia uses new cybercrime law to jail record number of journalists
Tunisia has reached a troubling milestone, with at least five journalists behind bars in CPJ’s December 1, 2024, prison census, the highest number since the organization began keeping track in 1992. Once hailed as a beacon of freedom in the Arab world after the 2011 revolution that sparked the Arab Spring, Tunisia is now erasing…
Tunis court sentences 2 journalists to 1 year in prison, prevents hearing coverage
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…
Tunisian police arrest 5 journalists, interrupt France 24’s broadcast amid crackdown
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…