Fethi Belaid \/ AFP<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMore than 300 days have passed since the arrest, on May 11, 2024 in Tunisia, of sports journalist Mourad Zeghidi, former channel Horizons in Tunisia and then from Canal+ in France. While his relatives and supports were waiting for his release in January, at the end of his sentence, new accusations extended his incarceration.<\/p>\n
In response to this placement in pre -trial detention, his defenders intensified their campaign for his release, denouncing a judicial relentlessness against critical votes in Tunisia. A petition, launched on March 8, has already collected nearly 5,000 signatures.<\/p>\n\nRead also |<\/span> Article reserved for our subscribers<\/span><\/span> In Tunisia, opening of an extraordinary trial for “conspiracy against state security” <\/span> <\/div>\n Read later<\/span> <\/button> <\/p>\n<\/section>\nMourad Zeghidi was arrested on May 11, 2024, while attention was retained the same day by the live arrest of Sonia Dahmani, columnist and lawyer entrenched at the headquarters of the National Order of Lawyers. Meanwhile, another more discreet operation took place at the home of Mr. Zeghidi, in the suburbs of Tunis. A dozen police officers burst into the journalist, known for his moderation. His phone and that of his daughter were seized before he was taken to detention.<\/p>\n
Also on May 11, Borhen Bsa\u00efes, host of “Impossible Emission”, the morning of IFM radio, where Mourad Zeghidi and Sonia Dahmani regularly intervened, was also arrested, in fact stopping one of the most listened to radio broadcasts in Tunisia.<\/p>\n
Legel decree 54, a censorship tool<\/h2>\n According to court documents consulted by The world<\/em>the accusations made against Mr. Zeghidi are essentially based on his analyzes of the country’s political situation. He is notably accused of having criticized certain decisions of President Ka\u00efs Sa\u00efed and called into question the legitimacy of local elected officials after a ballot characterized by massive abstention.<\/p>\nHis comments on restrictions on candidates for the October 2024 presidential election were also selected against him. The journalist was also questioned on a publication on his Facebook account in which he expressed his support for Mohamed Boughalleb, a colleague then imprisoned, then released in February 2024.<\/p>\n\nRead also |<\/span> “Censorship is back”: in Tunisia, the media space is shrinking as the presidential election <\/span> <\/div>\n Read later<\/span> <\/button> <\/p>\n<\/section>\nOn May 22, 2024, after an expeditious trial, Mourad Zeghidi and Borhen Bsa\u00efes were sentenced to one year in prison for “Diffusion of false news”<\/em> And “False statements in order to defame others”<\/em>under the decree-law 54, a controversial text frequently denounced as a censorship tool. “I assume”<\/em>then declared Mourad Zeghidi before the judge, defending his work as a political analyst and rejecting any defamatory intention. “I only did my job”<\/em>he insisted.<\/p>\nDuring his appeal trial on July 30, his sentence was reduced to eight months in prison. While his release was expected January 7, a new warrant was issued <\/strong>against him in December 2024 as part of an investigation for “Silver whitening”<\/em>. His lawyers and loved ones denounce a maneuver aimed at tarnishing his image. “As a surge of solidarity had formed around him, they wanted to discredit him with these accusations”<\/em>estimates his sister, Meriem Zeghidi Adda.<\/p>\n“One of the most honest journalists”<\/h2>\n His lawyer, Me <\/sup>Ghazi Mrabet, underlines that the accusation is based on tax irregularities and not on suspicious financial flows. The objective is, according to him, to dissuade any dispute. \u201cThey chose one of the most honest, most professional, even moderate journalists with the sole purpose of silencing all the journalists and free voices in this country. What was done. Everyone has been you since the arrest of Mourad \u00bb<\/em>he notes.<\/p>\n\n Newsletter<\/span> <\/p>\n“Le Monde Afrique”<\/p>\n
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Promulgated by President Sa\u00efed in September 2022, decree-law 54 is officially presented as an instrument to combat false information and cybercrime. But human rights organizations and the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) denounce a repressive text, used to sanction freedom of expression. His article 24 provides for sentences of up to ten years in prison and heavy fines for the dissemination of “Fake news”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\nRead also |<\/span> Ka\u00efs Sa\u00efed’s alarming regression of Tunisia <\/span> <\/div>\n Read later<\/span> <\/button> <\/p>\n<\/section>\nIn a context of democratic regression, this decree is used to pursue journalists, opponents and citizens expressing criticism on social networks. To date, four journalists are officially incarcerated in Tunisia and around twenty the subject of legal proceedings under the news.<\/p>\n
Mourad Zeghidi, a known personality of the media landscape, returned to Tunisia in 2014, carried by the post-revolutionary democratic momentum. \u201cMy family knew prisons and repression but, after the 2011 revolution, we thought that this time was over. However, in 2025, my brother, like many others, was again the victim of repression. It hurts to be there today, after all the sacrifices that have been made \u201d<\/em>regret Meriem Zeghidi Adda.“Like a journalist with ideals”<\/em> According to his sister, Mourad Zeghidi comes from a family marked by political and union commitment. His father, Salah Zeghidi, influential trade unionist, was imprisoned under former president Habib Bourguiba. On the maternal side, his grandfather, Georges Adda, a communist and anti-colonialist activist, was imprisoned under the French protectorate, while his grandmother, Gladys Adda, distinguished himself in the fight for women’s rights in the country. “Some do not know, but we know, thanks to our family history, that this injustice will end”<\/em>hopes Meriem Zeghidi Adda.<\/p>\n\n Monia Ben Hamadi<\/span> (Tunis, correspondence)<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/section>\n Reuse this content <\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\nTm-En-1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Journalists gathered before the Tunis court where their colleagues, Borhen Bsa\u00efes and Mourad Zeghidi, had to appear on May 22, 2024. Fethi Belaid \/ AFP More than 300 days have passed since the arrest, on May 11, 2024 in Tunisia, of sports journalist Mourad Zeghidi, former channel Horizons in Tunisia and then from Canal+ in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[700],"class_list":["post-105868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-job"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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