Wararka: Tunisian journalists protest after arrest of reporter
laundering charges, accusations his lawyer said were unfounded.
News
Mohamed Yousfi, editor-in-chief of the Alqatiba website, was detained on Friday when he arrived for a radio interview in capital Tunis and has been in custody since.
His lawyer, Hela Ben Salem, said Yousfi faced financial crime charges with prosecutors accusing him of receiving suspicious funds from abroad.
Ben Salem said at a press conference before the protest that the charges came under “anti-terror and illicit enrichment laws”, but she said the case contained “no concrete evidence” of wrongdoing.
Details
The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) said Yousfi’s health deteriorated while in detention, after undergoing surgery for appendicitis following his arrest.
The SNJT also said members of his defence had to leave an interrogation to bring him medication as Yousfi was “screaming loudly from pain”.
Press freedom groups have voiced concerns over civil liberties in Tunisia, where journalists, lawyers, opposition figures and activists have faced arrest and prosecution in recent years.
Analysis
Zied Dabbar, head of the SNJT, told AFP that Yousfi’s arrest came as part of a broader crackdown on journalists in Tunisia.
“We are faced with clear scenarios: prison, prosecution or exile,” he said. “The authorities and the ruling establishment are repressing journalists.”
Oussama Bouagila, North Africa director at Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said in a statement there was “nothing in the case to justify the continued detention of Yousfi”.
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