Prominent Tunisian reporter Zied Heni was detained after publishing an article critical of the judiciary, his lawyer said, with the public prosecutor ordering the arrest but no immediate charges disclosed. Journalists' groups say the detention is part of a broader pattern of repression since President Kais Saied dissolved parliament in 2021. Critics point to the 2022 dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council and mass dismissals of judges as evidence of weakened judicial independence. Saied denies the accusations, insisting his actions fight corruption and protect the rule of law.
Prominent Tunisian Reporter Zied Heni Detained After Criticising Judiciary, Union Says
FILE PHOTO: Tunisian President Kais Saied attends a signing ceremony with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Pool/File Photo
Tunis, April 24 — Prominent Tunisian reporter Zied Heni was detained on Friday after publishing an article that criticised the judiciary, his lawyer said, a move the journalists' union described as part of a wider crackdown on free expression.
Lawyer Nafaa Laribi told Reuters the Tunisian public prosecutor ordered Heni's arrest. There was no immediate statement from the prosecutor's office and no details about any formal charges.
Rights groups and journalists' organisations have warned of increasing efforts to silence independent voices since President Kais Saied dissolved the elected parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. Critics say those actions, and subsequent measures, have eroded democratic safeguards.
In 2022, Saied disbanded the Supreme Judicial Council and removed dozens of judges — steps the opposition and rights advocates say have undermined judicial independence and risked turning the courts into a body that follows political direction. Saied rejects these accusations, saying his measures targeted corruption and that the courts are now independent.
The head of Tunisia's journalists' union, Zied Dabbar, called Heni's detention "arbitrary and ... another step aimed at intimidating journalists," adding that the arrest sends a chilling message to the press.
Freedom of expression expanded after the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and helped spark the Arab Spring. But critics contend Saied's consolidation of power since 2021 and the decrees he has issued have given authorities new tools to pursue journalists, opposition leaders and other critics.
Over the past three years, leaders of Tunisia's main opposition parties, as well as dozens of politicians, journalists, activists and business figures, have been detained on charges including conspiring against state security, money laundering and corruption. Saied has repeatedly denied he is becoming a dictator, saying that freedoms are guaranteed in Tunisia and that no one is above the law regardless of their name or position.
Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Andrew Heavens
Help us improve.
