Tunisian pundits handed one-year prison sentences

A Tunis court on Wednesday handed one-year sentences to two TV hosts for "spreading false news" and "defaming others" after they had made critical comments online and in the media, a court spokesman said.

Broadcaster Borhen Bssais and political commentator Mourad Zeghidi were arrested earlier this month under Decree 54, a 2022 law which critics have said is being used to stifle political dissent.

The two men received "six months for the crime of using communications networks to produce and spread false news and rumours with the aim to infringe upon the rights of others and public security", the court's spokesman, Mohamed Zitouna, told AFP.

Another six-month sentence was added for "using exploiting communication networks to spread news including untrue information with the aim of defaming others, tarnishing their reputation, and causing them material and moral harm", Zitouna added.

Earlier in the day, Bssais and Zeghidi said they were doing their jobs when they had made statements deemed critical by the authorities.

Decree 54 mandates up to five years in prison for the use of communications networks to "produce, spread (or) disseminate... false news" with the aim of "harming" and "defaming" others.

Zeghidi was prosecuted for comments made in February and expressing support for journalist Mohamed Boughalleb, who is also in detention.

"My job as a political analyst requires that I talk about public issues," Zeghidi told the hearing on Wednesday.

"I'm neither an opponent nor a supporter of the president."

"I would like to know what is the sentence or word that was found to be in violation of the penal code," he added.

Bssais was arrested for attacking President Kais Saied through radio broadcasts and statements between 2019 and 2022, according to his lawyer.

"I'm a host, so I must present all opinions regardless of their orientations," he said during the hearing, adding he had been arrested as if he was a "dangerous criminal".

Both men's lawyers slammed Decree 54.

"When politics enters the courtroom, justice leaves," said Zeghidi's lawyer Kamel Massoud, blasting the decree as "unconstitutional".

Bssais's lawyer, Khaled Khrichi, said there were other ways to respond to criticism.

"An entire people is being prosecuted under Decree 54," he said.

Since the decree was signed into effect by Saied in 2022, more than 60 journalists, lawyers and opposition figures have been prosecuted under it, according to the National Union of Tunisian Journalists.