Tunisian journalist Mohamed Yousfi has been detained after police arrested him before a radio appearance. A Tunisian judge ordered the detention of prominent journalist Mohamed Yousfi on Saturday, hours after police arrested him as he prepared to enter Express FM Radio for a programme.
Yousfi, an outspoken critic of President Kais Saied, was arrested shortly before his scheduled appearance, said Zied Dabbar, president of the journalists’ syndicate SNJT.
Walid Ben Rhouma, an Express FM presenter who had invited Yousfi to the programme, said police told him the journalist would be taken for questioning but gave no reason.
Yousfi is also editor-in-chief of investigative news website Al-Qatiba and has been strongly critical of Saied’s policies.
The judge ordered his detention on charges of “illicit enrichment and money laundering”, the state news agency reported, citing a judicial source.
SNJT Raises Press Freedom Concerns
SNJT said Yousfi was questioned about his journalistic work and Al-Qatiba’s editorial line, linking his arrest to his criticism of the authorities.
The syndicate said his arrest was not only an attack on Yousfi but also on journalists’ right to practice their profession and Tunisians’ right to a free and independent media.
Tunisian authorities did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment after office hours.
Rights groups have warned of growing efforts to silence independent voices in Tunisia since Saied suspended parliament in 2021 and dissolved it in 2022, ruling by decree.
Several media figures have been jailed this year, including Zied Heni, Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, while Khaoula Boukrim was sentenced in June to four years in absentia.
Free speech initially flourished following the 2011 uprising that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and led to the Arab Spring. Critics say Saied’s accumulation of power in 2021 and decrees issued since then have dismantled democratic safeguards and enabled authorities to pursue journalists.
- Source: Reuters