The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) has warned this Friday of the “bleak” situation of journalism in the North African country, especially due to the increase in prosecutions of journalists in the last year, due to the “repressive laws” that do not regulate journalistic profession.
“Journalists are not asking for immunity, they are asking for a law that regulates the profession of journalism,” declared the president of the SNJT, Zied Dabbar, during a press conference held on Friday to present the annual report on the situation of press freedom in the North African country.
The report warns of the growing number of trials of journalists under regulations that are outside the framework of decree-law 2011-115, which regulates the journalistic profession. In the last year, Tunisian courts have sanctioned journalists for their work on up to 39 occasions and have handed down five prison sentences against journalists based on precautionary laws such as the Anti-Terrorism and Money Laundering Law, the Telecommunications Code or the Code Penal.
Furthermore, in the same period, that is, between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024, 211 attacks against journalists, correspondents and photographers were recorded in Tunisia. In this sense, the report denounces an “escalation of threats to press freedom”, where “harassment, threats and attacks” against journalists are repeated.
The president of the SNJT has described the situation of journalists in Tunisia as “bleak”, referring to the difficulties they face in accessing information. According to him, the political authorities – particularly the Presidency of the Republic and the Parliament – have adopted a “policy of closure” towards the media, “hiding information”, which “leaves the public sphere subject to a single narrative, which is the narrative of authority.
Journalists and their professional structures are convinced that the objective is to “mistreat” any journalist who allows himself to delve into “inflammatory” topics that occupy public opinion, or simply criticize the actions of officials or political representatives.
The authors of the report have expressed concern in a year in which Tunisia will hold presidential elections, an event that “presupposes a pluralistic democratic climate and independent and impartial institutions” and in which the media “play a key role in establishing a democratic debate that guarantees broad political participation and informed electoral public opinion.
This report has been published just two weeks after a court of first instance in Tunisia sentenced Tunisian journalist Mohamed Boughalleb to six months in prison for insulting a public official, for which he was arrested at the end of March.
