Tunisia on Tuesday witnessed widespread anger among human rights activists and politicians over a judicial decision ordering that prominent journalist Zeid El-Heni be detained and tried on charges of defamation, days after he criticized the trade minister.
El-Heni will have his first court hearing on Jan. 10 on the charge of “defaming others on social media,” his lawyer Ayachi Hammami told reporters.
He was arrested on Thursday after he made comments about Kalthoum Ben Rejeb on local radio during an interview that was shared on Facebook, Tunis Afrique Presse agency said.
Tunisia's journalists union demanded his immediate release, calling his detention a “violation of legal provisions governing the trial of reporters.”
A group of human rights organizations and political figures expressed their broad solidarity with El-Heni.
If the charges against him are proven, El-Heni faces a prison term of one to two years, and a fine of one hundred dinars ($33) to one thousand dinars ($333), for the charge of causing harm to others on social media.
Freedom of speech and media were key gains for Tunisians after the 2011 revolution that ousted autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered the “Arab Spring” protests.
But activists and journalists say freedom of speech has been deteriorating since President Kais Saied seized wide powers in 2021. Saied has said his actions were needed to save Tunisia from chaos under what he calls a corrupt elite.
Deputy Abdul Razzaq Awaidat, the leader of the People's Movement, and a supporter of President Said’s policy since 2021, said the trial of journalists according to Presidential Decree 54 violated the rest of Tunisian laws, including Decree 115 that regulates the press and media sector in Tunisia.
He, therefore, expressed his solidarity with journalist El-Heni.
