Tunisian journalist sent to jail for six months over criticism of official
Tunisian journalist Mohamed Boughaleb has been sentenced to six months in prison after being convicted of defaming a civil servant.
The Tunisian Court of First Instance passed its verdict on Wednesday evening, one of Boughaleb’s lawyers, Nafie Al Araibi, told the Tunis Afrique Presse news agency.
Boughaleb, a known critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied, was detained by a cybercrime unit last month after a complaint was filed by a civil servant.
The official, who works for the Tunisian Ministry of Religious Affairs, accused Boughaleb of “causing damage to her reputation”.
Boughaleb had claimed in posts on social media and to a private radio station that overseas trips taken by the official were a form of “corruption and waste of public resources”.
Boughaleb, who suffers from diabetes and heart issues, did not attend the first hearing last week, but was in court on Wednesday.
Zied Dabbar, president of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, said the case was “the latest attempt to intimidate and muzzle journalists by exploiting the apparatus of the state”.
Boughaleb’s brother, Jamal Eddine Boughaleb, said: “It is a black day for the judiciary and freedom of the press. It is a message to journalists: ‘be silent or your place is in prison’.”
The syndicate this month demanded Boughaleb’s immediate release, citing his ill health.
His conviction reinforces fears among activists that Tunisian authorities are increasingly restricting freedom of speech in the country, with presidential elections expected later this year.
In January, journalist Zied El Heni was held in custody for almost a week after criticising the Tunisian Minister of Commerce, Kalthoum Ben Rejeb, on a radio show.
Mr El Heni’s comments prompted Tunis prosecutors to order his arrest and prosecution under a law that punishes “the use of telecommunications networks to harm or insult others”.
In September 2022, Mr Saied issued Decree 54 to prevent the dissemination online of information deemed to be false, with offenders facing prison terms of up to 10 years.
Anyone found to have used information networks to “promote [or] publish … false news” to harm public security or national defence could face a five-year prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 Tunisian dinars ($15,600).
The jail term can be doubled if the subject of the information is a public official.
In 2021, Mr Saied shut down Tunisia’s elected parliament and moved to rule by decree before assuming authority over the judiciary.
Mr Saied, who was elected to office in 2019, has insisted he will not become a dictator.