Two popular Tunisian journalists handed three-year jail terms

In what critics claim is the government’s most recent attempt to punish dissent, two well-known media figures have been given new prison terms by a Tunisian court.

According to a judicial source, Tunisia’s state TAP news agency received a sentence for radio journalists Bohran Bssaies and Mourad Zghidi on Thursday for “money laundering” and three and a half years in prison.

The conviction is just one more of the growing number of cases involving opposition figures, journalists, and other perceived critics of President Kais Saied, who rights groups claim has overseen a significant rollback of freedoms since he took office in 2019.

Under Tunisia’s contentious Decree Law 54 against cybercrime, Bssaies and Zghidi were first imprisoned in May of that year. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a press organization, claimed that Sayed’s “only” crime was making political predictions and voicing their opinions.

The journalists’ defense claims that the judiciary of Tunisia brought additional tax-related charges based on routine tax issues before serving their eight-month sentence.

RSF urged Tunisian authorities to release Bssaies and Zghidi, calling the incident “legal persecution.”

The Tunisian public’s right to information will remain seriously endangered as long as journalists are imprisoned for their work, according to RSF’s director for North Africa, Oussama Bouagila.

Ahmed Nejib Chebi, the country’s top opposition figure, was arrested in December, according to the investigation.

In a trial that rights groups described as a “sham,” Chebii, 81, was given a 12-year sentence for plotting against the state.

In a rumored “conspiracy case,” dozens more opposition figures received sentences as high as 45 years in prison the month before.

In recent months, Tunisian courts have also ordered the release of a number of well-known detainees, including journalist Chatha Belhaj Mubarak and lawyer Sonia Dahmani.

The release of Chadha Hadj Mbarek shouldn’t be a one-time event. It should, in fact, help to respect the press freedom, according to RSF’s Bouagila.