TUNIS, Tunisia: A local court Wednesday condemned a journalist and strong critic of President Kais Saied to six months in jail for defaming a civil servant, his brother and lawyer said.
Country’s cybercrime unit arrested Mohamed Boughalleb a month back after a complaint filed by a civil servant.
A female official of the Tunisian ministry of religious affairs, in her complaint, accused Boughalleb of “damaging her honour and reputation” in Facebook posts.
The journalist had commented on social media and private radio that the official’s overseas trips were kind of “corruption and waste of public resources.”
Boughalleb, who suffers from diabetes and heart trouble, did not attend the first court hearing last week, but was present today.
Jalel Hammami, one of his lawyers, said “Mohamed Boughalleb is paying for having exercised his freedom of expression. What happened to him is a disgrace.”
President of the national journalists union (SNJT), Zied Dabbar, said the incident was “none other than the latest attempt to intimidate and muzzle journalists by exploiting the apparatus of the state”.
The journalist is known for his criticism of President Saied and the political class as well as for his investigative work on corruption.
A number of opponents of president Saied are behind bars as the African country prepares for presidential polls scheduled to take place later this year.
According to the journalist union, around 20 journalists are presently facing legal charges which the union has said is linked to their work.
Local and international NGOs have decried a rollback of freedoms in the country since President Saied granted himself full powers in July 2021.
