In Tunisia, journalists still under threat of arrest

For two years, the dissemination of false news has been severely punished by law. Journalists and NGOs denounce an overly vague text which allows arbitrary arrests and convictions.

While Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed was re-elected with more than 90% of the vote, the media are concerned about increased repression of freedom of expression. Five journalists are currently in prison for criticizing the regime, a situation not seen since the 1950s.

Cannot sendthe flagship event of IFM radio, widely listened to by young people, no longer exists. We talked about politics there, often without filter. But last May, Cannot send suddenly disappeared from the air after the arrest of four of its columnists. All are still in prison, one of them was sentenced to a year for spreading false information. “Convicted with a file that includes a bunch of documents, screenshots of Facebook postsexplains Thameur Mekki, independent journalist. His lawyers have asked the court, on several occasions, to reveal to them what the exact misinformation is.but they never had a precise answer.

The famous decree 54, adopted two years ago by the government, punishes any dissemination of false news with five years of imprisonment, except that it gives no definition and leaves an absolute latitude of interpretation. “Any information can be considered by the judicial authorities, by the State, by ministers, by the President as fake news”explains Amira Mohamed, member of the Journalists Union. She is also a columnist on Mosaïque FM, whose general director remained in detention for three months. He was only able to get out by paying bail of 300,000 euros and remains accused of money laundering and conspiracy against state security. Faced with the risk of prosecution, journalists constantly monitor themselves. “We try not to lose our freedom, but unfortunately there is this self-censorship”regrets Amira Mohamed.

The same pressure is exerted on members of civil society. Souhaieb Ferchichi, 30, works for I-Watch, an NGO that scrutinizes the promises of political leaders and verifies their implementation. “Before, I wondered how Ben Ali managed to achieve power so easily and why there was no resistance in 1987. There, in 2024, I am experiencing the same thing”he says.

The government of Kaïs Saied recently found another lever to silence the media and NGOs: accusing them of receiving funds from abroad, and in particular from Israel, is strictly prohibited. The Jewish state is one of the rare countries with which Tunis has no diplomatic relations.