Tunisian authorities jail journalist Khalifa Guesmi over national security charge
New York, September 5, 2023—CPJ has called on Tunisian authorities to release journalist Khalifa Guesmi, who was taken into custody on Sunday to serve his five-year prison sentence on charges of disclosing national security information. “The September 3 arrest of journalist Khalifa Guesmi is a clear attack on journalists and the freedom of the press…
Tunisian authorities arrest journalist Zied el-Heni for allegedly insulting president
New York, June 21, 2023 – Tunisian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Zied el-Heni, the Committee to Protect journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, June 20, plainclothes security officers arrested el-Heni, a prominent columnist and political commentator for the daily online radio show Émission Impossible on the independent radio station IFM, according to news…
Tunisian court increases prison sentence for journalist Khalifa Guesmi from 1 to 5 years
New York, May 18, 2023 – Tunisian authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalist Khalifa Guesmi and ensure he is not imprisoned for his work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Tuesday, May 16, an appeals court in Tunis sentenced Guesmi, a correspondent for the local independent radio station and news website Mosaique…
Independent journalists banned from covering opening session of new Tunisian parliament
New York, March 14, 2023—In response to news reports that Tunisian lawmakers on Monday banned all non-state media journalists from covering the opening session of parliament, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “Barring journalists from covering the opening session of Tunisia’s new parliament is President Kais Saied’s latest attempt to…
Tunisian police file complaint against journalist Mohamed Mehdi Jlassi over July protests
New York, February 24, 2023 — In response to news reports that Tunisian journalist Mohamed Mehdi Jlassi, president of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, faces prosecution for allegedly inciting disobedience and assaulting police during a July 2022 protest in the capital Tunis, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement on Friday: “Tunisian…
Tunisian authorities arrest Mosaique FM director Noureddine Boutar
New York, February 14, 2023 – Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Noureddine Boutar and allow journalists and media workers to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday, February 13, police raided and searched the home of Boutar, the director of the local independent radio station and news website…
CPJ submits reports on Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco to United Nations Universal Periodic Review
The human rights records of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are under review by the United Nations Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This U.N. mechanism is a peer-review process that surveys the human rights performance of member states, monitoring progress from previous review cycles, and presents a list of recommendations on how a…
Journalists tell CPJ how Tunisia’s tough new constitution curbs their access to information
When a CPJ researcher sat down with Lotfi Hajji, Tunisia bureau chief of Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera at a coffee shop in Tunis in July, we noticed that a man sitting directly behind us was recording our conversation on his phone. When we stood up to take a selfie with him in the background, the man…
Tunisian authorities arrest journalist Ghassen Ben Khelifa for alleged terrorism
New York, September 7, 2022–Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Ghassen Ben Khelifa and cease detaining members of the press on vague national security grounds, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, September 6, state security officers arrested Ben Khelifa, editor-in-chief of the local independent newspaper Inhiyez, at his home in…
Tunisian journalist Salah Attia sentenced to 3 months in prison
New York, August 17, 2022 – A Tunisian military court in the capital Tunis on Tuesday, August 16, sentenced journalist Salah Attia, founder and editor-in-chief of local independent news website Al-Ray al-Jadid, to three months in prison, according to news reports and Sondes Attia, the journalist’s daughter, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The…