The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) condemned the sentence handed down to journalist Ghassen Ben Khalifa, editor-in-chief of the “Inhiyez” website, “in a case he had nothing to do with”.

It considered the verdict a “step backwards” in the judicial treatment of cases related to publishing in the digital space and expressed its unconditional support to him.

In a statement issued on Monday, the journalists’ union said that the Ben Arous Court of First Instance sentenced Ben Khalifa to six months in prison for insulting others through the public communications network, following a case filed against him more than a year ago over a blog post published on a Facebook page that the security teams responsible had determined had nothing to do with the content published on it.

The union also expressed concern about “the frequency of prosecutions of journalists and activists” for publishing on the Internet, which ‘peaked in 2023 and early this year’.

It also voiced concern over the ease with which they
are imprisoned on the basis of reports with weak legal backing or in an attempt to silence their voices critical of the economic, social and political situation in the country,” according to the text of the statement.

The SNJT stressed its attachment to freedom of expression as an irreversible asset and its rejection of any form of punitive adaptation of the law “as a sword hanging over the necks of journalists”.

It called on Tunisian courts to exclude prison sentences in cases of freedom of expression and publication and urged all defenders of press freedom, freedom of expression, rights and the independence of the judiciary to mobilise in defence of freedom of expression and to denounce negative practices and judgments against freedom of expression, the statement said.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse