Two well-known columnists in Tunisia, who were prosecuted under a law on “fake news” for having criticized the power of President Kaïs Saïed, were sentenced on Wednesday May 22 to one year in prison each.

Borhen Bssais, a private media presenter, and Mourad Zeghidi, a political commentator, received six months for disseminating “false news” in media and social networks, and another six months for “false statements with the aim of defaming others,” the spokesperson for the Tunis court of first instance, Mohamed Zitouna, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

During their trial during the day, they invoked freedom of expression, explaining that they had only done their job by analyzing and commenting on political and socio-economic news in the country, according to an AFP journalist present in the room.

“It’s part of my job.”

They were arrested on May 11 for statements in radio and television programs as well as publications on social networks, considered critical of the power of President Saïed. Prosecutions had been initiated against them under Decree-Law 54, promulgated in 2022 by Mr. Saïed, officially to fight against the dissemination of “fake news” but criticized for a very broad interpretation. Their lawyers requested a dismissal of the case during the trial.

“My work as a political analyst requires me to speak about public affairs (…). I want to know what phrase or word was judged to violate the penal code,” Mr. Zeghidi said, according to an AFP journalist. Mr. Zeghidi was criticized for statements dating from February and a publication supporting an imprisoned journalist who was critical of President Mr. Saïed. President Saïed, elected in 2019 for a five-year term expiring this fall, granted himself full powers in a coup in the summer of 2021.

“I am neither an opponent nor a supporter of the president. Sometimes I support his choices and sometimes I criticize them, it’s part of my job,” explained Mr. Zeghidi, addressing the president of the court. “When politics enters the courts, justice comes out,” insisted her lawyer, Kamel Massoud, calling on the president to demonstrate independence in a country where opponents and jurists have denounced the judiciary being placed under supervision.

“An escalation of government repression”

Borhen Bssais was appearing for “attacking President Kaïs Saïed through radio broadcasts and statements” on the Internet between 2019 and 2022. “I am a presenter, so I must present all opinions, whatever their orientations,” he said. he said, believing he had been arrested “like a dangerous criminal”. “An entire people is being prosecuted under Decree-Law 54,” denounced his lawyer, Khaled Khrichi, in his pleading.

Their arrest coincided with the vigorous arrest, on May 11, of lawyer Sonia Dahmani, also a columnist, prosecuted in the name of the same decree 54. On May 13, it was the turn of another lawyer, Mehdi Zagrouba, to be arrested in the premises of the Tunis bar. These arrests were added to those of activists from migrant aid associations the previous days.

The American NGO Human Rights Watch denounced on May 17, in a press release, “an escalation of government repression in recent weeks and actions aimed at muzzling freedom of expression, persecuting dissidents and repressing migrants.” The European Union, France and the United States expressed last week their “concern” and their “concern” for the respect of rights and freedoms, in the country which prides itself on having been the cradle in 2011 of “Arab Spring.”