Tunisia arrests journalist amid crackdown on government critics

Tunisian police have arrested Mohamed Yousfi, a prominent journalist and outspoken critic of President Kais Saied, according to the head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists.

Local journalists said Yousfi, editor-in-chief of the investigative news website Al-Qatiba, was brought in on Friday for questioning. They said the focus of the investigation was not known. Tunisian authorities had not commented on the arrest, which adds to a series of prosecutions targeting media figures and activists this year.

Khaoula Boukrim, founder of the news website TUMEDIA, was sentenced in June to four years in prison in absentia after fleeing to France last year. Journalist Zied el-Heni received a one-year sentence in May. Broadcaster Mourad Zeghidi and political commentator Borhen Bsaies were sentenced to three and a half years in January.

Rights groups have warned that pressure on independent voices is widening under Saied. They say his rule has dismantled democratic safeguards and allowed authorities to pursue journalists and critics more aggressively.

On Thursday, Tunisia’s Court of Cassation upheld a mass trial involving 40 people, including opposition leaders, lawyers and human rights defenders convicted of conspiring to overthrow Saied. “The ruling confirms that the judiciary is not independent,” said lawyer Haifa Chebbi, whose father, opposition leader Najib Chebbi, was among those sentenced to 12 years. Justice Minister Leila Jaffel said the defendants sought to destabilize the country.

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The ruling confirms that the judiciary is not independent.