In Tunisia, nearly a hundred journalists expressed their anger on Thursday before the Tunisian Journalists’ Union after the sentencing of their colleague Khalifa Guesmi to five years in prison. After the publication of an article in March 2022 on the dismantling of a terrorist cell in Kairouan in the center of the country, Khalifa Guesmi was arrested and charged with disclosing information in violation of the anti-terrorism law and the penal code.
“We are journalists, not terrorists”, these angry slogans are shouted by journalists who held up signs of support this Thursday in solidarity with their colleague Khalifa Guesmi. His sentence to 5 years in prison represents a blow to the freedom of the press. He had been sentenced in November 2022 to one year in prison, but the Court of Appeal greatly increased the sentence.
“This is the first time that we have a journalist sentenced to five years in prison. Five years in prison! From independence until now, we had no trial and conviction like that of Khalifa Guesmi. Khalifa Guesmi did not commit a crime, he just published an article, verified information, and now he is sentenced to five years in prison,” protests Mahdi Jelassi, president of the Tunisian journalists’ union.
For Thameur Mekki, editorial director of the independent media Nawaat, this is a clear step backward. “Until now, we were talking about a threat to press freedom, we were talking about a risk for journalists, but now we can see that it is no longer a threat or a risk, we can clearly see that the sanctions are topical, prison sentences.”
And the pressure on journalists does not stop there. This Friday, Haythem El Mekki and Elyes Charbi, the two headliners of the political program Midi Show on Mosaïque FM radio are invited to appear before the judicial police for spreading rumors affecting internal security.
