Tunisia arrests journalist amid crackdown on government critics
By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters. Published On 4 Sep 20264 Sep 2026.
By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters. Published On 4 Sep 20264 Sep 2026.
Article outline
- What happened
- Official response
- Reaction
- The bottom line
Key points
- Tunisian police have arrested prominent journalist Mohamed Yousfi, a vocal critic of President Kais Saied's rule, the head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists informed Reuters.
- On Thursday, Tunisia's Court of Cassation upheld a mass trial against 40 figures, including opposition leaders, lawyers and human rights defenders convicted of conspiring to overthrow Saied.
- "The ruling confirms that the judiciary is not independent, " remarked Haifa Chebbi, a lawyer whose father, opposition leader Najib Chebbi, was among those sentenced to 12 years.
- Tunisia's Minister of Justice Leila Jaffel remarked the defendants sought to destabilise the country.
- According to local journalists, police remarked that Yousfi, the editor-in-chief of the investigative news website Al-Qatiba, was brought in on Friday for questioning.
According to local journalists, police remarked that Yousfi, the editor-in-chief of the investigative news website Al-Qatiba, was brought in on Friday for questioning. The focus of the investigation is unknown.
Tunisian authorities have not yet commented on the arrest. It is the latest in a string of prosecutions of media figures and activists in Tunisia this year.
Khaoula Boukrim, founder of the news website TUMEDIA. This person fled to France last year, was sentenced in June to four years in absentia.
While broadcaster Mourad Zeghidi and political commentator Borhen Bsaies were sentenced in January to three and a half years, prominent journalist Zied el-Heni was sentenced in May to one year in prison.
Rights groups have cautioned of a widening crackdown on independent voices in Tunisia under Saied, whose rule has dismantled democratic safeguards, enabling authorities to pursue journalists and critics more aggressively.
For now, tunisia arrests journalist amid crackdown on government critics remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.
