Tunisian police arrested head of a news website close to Tunisia's Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party over alleged links to a company accused of conspiring against the state, reported AFP on Friday.
Lotfi Hidouri, editor-in-chief of Achahed, was placed in custody on Thursday night over financial dealings between a firm which finances his site and Instalingo, a digital content provider, his lawyer Samir Ben Amor told the news agency.
Instalingo, which has been under investigation since 2021, stands accused of "plotting against the security of the state" and inciting violence, according to local media.
Ennahdha was the leading force in Tunisia's parliament which was dissolved last July in a power grab by President Kais Saied, who took control of all executive and legislative powers in June 2021.
According to the lawyer, Hidouri had "no administrative authority" over the website that could justify his detention, which he condemned as "yet another crime" in the wake of Saied's power grab.
“This is a new crime committed by the coup gang,” he said in reference to the government of Najla Bouden.
A Tunisian military court on June 11 placed another journalist critical of Saied, Salah Attia, in custody after he made comments about the army during a television broadcast.
His lawyer said Attia is being accused of "harming the army" and "inciting Tunisians to violence.”
The national journalists' union, the SNJT, has condemned authorities' attempts to "tame" media outlets and turn them into propaganda channels.
