Dozens of people gathered in Tunisia on Friday in a protest in defense of press freedom and in support of the famous French-Tunisian journalist Mourad Zghidi, who has been imprisoned since 2024, on charges of “money laundering” and “tax evasion.” Local and international human rights organizations denounce what they describe as a “decline” in freedoms in Tunisia since the exceptional measures taken by President Kais Saied in July 2021.

Published on: 04/25/2026 - 10:20

Dozens of people gathered in Tunisia on Friday in a protest to defend freedom of the press, in an initiative to defend the French-Tunisian journalist Mourad Zghidi, who has been imprisoned since 2024.

Next Tuesday, the Court of Appeal will resume the trial of the former sports commentator on Canal+ and his colleague Burhan Bseis on charges of “money laundering” and “tax evasion.”

Al-Zughidi and Bessis were initially sentenced last January to three and a half years in prison.

"Freedom for the Tunisian press"

The participants in the protest chanted slogans including “Freedom for the Tunisian press” and “Innocent people are in prisons,” while they raised banners that read, “No to restrictions on male/female journalists,” “Hands off journalistic work,” and in English, “Free and independent press.”

For his part, the head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, Ziad Dabbar, said that “the press is in danger,” warning of the danger of dissolving the Al-Khatt Association, publisher of the news website “Inkfada,” during a judicial hearing to be held on May 11. He added in a statement to Agence France-Presse that the site “is a media outlet that causes disturbance, and therefore the authorities want to close it.”

"Establishing an authoritarian regime"

As for the Secretary-General of the Tunisian Labor Party, Hamma Hammami, he considered that “the goal is clear, which is to kill political and civil life in Tunisia to establish an authoritarian regime.” The leftist leader and former political prisoner during the era of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali believed that “fascism is sweeping the country and devouring everything that stands in its way, including politicians, trade unionists, journalists, and human rights activists.”

The two journalists have been detained since May 2024 due to statements they made on radio and television programs and on social media that were considered critical of the authority of President Kais Saied.

They were then sentenced to one year in prison, before the sentence was reduced to eight months on appeal under a presidential decree to combat “fake news,” a text that raises human rights criticism due to its broad interpretation.

They were supposed to be released in January 2025, but they remained in detention on charges of “money laundering” and “tax evasion.”

Local and international human rights organizations denounce what they describe as a “decline” in freedoms in Tunisia since the exceptional measures taken by President Saied in July 2021.

France 24/AFP

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