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RSF - Reporters sans frontières
07/22/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/23/2026 08:38
Tunisia: RSF brings Mourad Zeghidi’s case before the UN, denounces the criminalisation of journalism
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) a saisi le Rapporteur spécial des Nations unies sur la liberté d'expression du cas du journaliste Mourad Zeghidi et plus largement pour l'alerter sur la multiplication des poursuites visant les journalistes en Tunisie. Dans un contexte de répression croissante visant la presse, RSF appelle les Nations unies à intervenir auprès des autorités tunisiennes pour qu'elles mettent fin à ces atteintes désormais systématiques à la liberté de la presse et au droit à l'information.
Far from being an isolated case, the detention of Mourad Zeghidi - a journalist on "L'Émission impossible" on Radio IFM, who has been imprisoned in Tunis since 11 May 2024 - illustrates the growing criminalisation of journalism in Tunisia. To denounce this drift and call on the authorities to respect their international obligations, RSF referred the matter to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression on 21 July 2026.
The statement addressed to the Special Rapporteur documents violations of press freedom and the right to information in the emblematic case of Mourad Zeghidi, who is detained and prosecuted in proceedings that RSF considers to be directly linked to his work. It also raises the alarm over the growing use of criminal law provisions - notably Decree-Law No. 54, the Telecommunications Code and counter-terrorism legislation - to prosecute journalists.
"The case of Mourad Zeghidi is particularly serious; it is also emblematic of a profound shift: that of a judicial system being used to silence journalists due to their journalistic work. By referring the matter to the United Nations, RSF demonstrates that these prosecutions are not isolated cases, but part of a strategy to criminalise journalism. RSF calls on the Special Rapporteur to denounce the now systematic instrumentalisation of criminal law provisions against journalists and to act for the release of media professionals prosecuted because of their work, starting with Mourad Zeghidi.
Antoine Bernard,
RSF Director of Advocacy and Assistance
This referral comes as convictions of journalists are on the rise. On 15 July 2026, journalist and columnist Haythem El Mekki was sentenced to one year in prison under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code for a publication denouncing the conditions of a morgue at Habib Bourguiba University Hospital in Sfax, in southeast Tunisia.
A few weeks earlier, Zied El Heni had his one-year prison sentence upheld on appeal for criticising - first during a scientific seminar he participated in as a journalist, and later in a Facebook post - judicial decisions targeting his colleague Khalifa Guesmi.
Finally, journalist Khaoula Boukrim, founder of the online media outlet TuMedia and living in exile in Paris since December 2025, learned on 9 June of her conviction in absentia to four years in prison in two proceedings based on Decree-Law No. 54, without either herself or her lawyer having been informed of these proceedings.
Deterioration of press freedom in Tunisia
These cases are part of a continued deterioration of press freedom since the concentration of powers in the hands of President Kaïs Saïed in July 2021. Judicial proceedings, arbitrary detentions, and the use of repressive legislation now form part of a strategy aimed at silencing journalists and creating a climate of fear within the profession.
Published on 22.07.2026
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