Tunisian journalists protested on Tuesday to demand the release of prominent journalist Mohamed Yousfi, whose arrest has become a new flashpoint amid accusations that President Kais Saied is cracking down on the country's remaining independent voices.
The protesters, who also included activists, gathered outside a court where a judge was questioning Yousfi over illicit enrichment and money laundering charges, which critics say were fabricated to punish him for his outspoken journalism.
Yousfi, a fierce critic of Saied and the editor-in-chief of investigative news website Al-Qatiba, was arrested last Friday as he was preparing to enter Express FM Radio to take part in a radio program.
His arrest prompted widespread condemnation of Saied’s government, with rights groups saying the case was aimed at increasing a climate of fear among journalists.
“The situation is dark and difficult. Journalists who disturb the authorities are facing legal persecution and fabricated charges,” Zied Dabbar, the head of journalists' syndicate SNJT, told Reuters.
“Today journalists either end up in exile or in prison... But we will resist,” he added.
Several media figures have been jailed this year, including Zied Heni, Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, while Khaoula Boukrim was sentenced in absentia in June to four years.
Free speech initially flourished following the 2011 uprising that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and ignited pro-democracy protests known as the “Arab Spring.”
But critics say Saied's accumulation of power in 2021 and decrees he has issued since then have dismantled democratic safeguards and enabled the authorities to pursue many journalists.
The leaders of Tunisia's main opposition parties have been jailed in the last three years, along with dozens of politicians, activists, journalists and businessmen, on charges of conspiring against state security, of money laundering and corruption.
Saied says he will not be a dictator and that freedoms are guaranteed in Tunisia.
