Journalist Mohamed Boughalleb of Tunisia Was Found Guilty of Insulting a Public Official

Concerns regarding press freedom in Tunisia have been expressed in response to a journalist’s six-month prison term for insulting an official.

Noting charges of defaming a public authority, a Tunisian court sentenced well-known journalist Mohamed Boughalleb to six months in prison on Wednesday.

“Today is a terrible day for journalistic freedom and the courts. The brother of Mohamed, Jamal Eddine Boughalleb, said, “It’s a message to journalists: keep quiet or your place is in jail.”

The journalist’s union has described Boughalleb’s incarceration last month as an attempt to silence critical voices. This has increased activists’ suspicions that the government is tightening limits on freedoms in anticipation of the scheduled presidential elections later this year.

President Kais Saied has come under fire for his grip over the courts after he overthrew the elected parliament in 2021 and assumed power by decree.

Following its revolution in 2011, Tunisia has made a point of promoting journalistic freedom, and its media is widely considered as among the most transparent in the Arab world. But now, under Saied’s leadership, politicians, journalists, and unions are warning of a serious threat to press freedom.

Saied, who was elected in 2019, has adamantly refuted allegations of authoritarianism and reaffirmed his dedication to democratic ideals.

Boughalleb’s incarceration raises additional worries because two other journalists, Lotfi Al-Hidouri and Shatha Al-Hajj Mubarak, are also in prison. In addition, a number of journalists and activists are being investigated by the courts for comments they made on social media or for criticizing the media’s authorities.