TUNIS, 09 May. - (ANA) - A Tunisian court sentenced a prominent journalist to one year in prison on Thursday, according to his supporters, after he criticised judges he said had wrongly convicted other journalists.

 

The verdict came on the same day that the United Nations' rights chief urged Tunisian authorities to end widening repression targeting civil society organisations, journalists, rights defenders and opposition figures.

 

Zied el-Heni, a vocal critic of President Kais Saied, was arrested on April 24 after an investigation was opened into remarks he made earlier that month.

 

At the time, he had decried journalists being "unjustly" convicted by judges he called "criminals", according to his lawyer.

 

Heni was prosecuted under a law that sets a penalty of up to two years in prison for "anyone who knowingly harms others or disturbs their peace through public telecommunications networks", including social media.

 

In a statement announcing the verdict, Heni's support committee quoted him as saying the trial was "illegitimate" and that he would "not recognise it nor any outcomes resulting from it, and I will not appeal the verdict".

 

In 2024, he was given a suspended six-month sentence on the same charge after calling for the dismissal of a former trade minister on a radio programme.

 

Since President Saied staged a sweeping power grab in 2021 - in what critics have called a coup - rights groups have denounced a regression in freedoms in the country. Dozens of Saied's critics are currently behind bars.

 

UN rights chief Volker Turk on Thursday pointed to the "continued repression and restrictions on civic space by the Tunisian authorities", and demanded they "release immediately and unconditionally all those detained or imprisoned for having expressed their views".   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/09 May 2026 - - -