The Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia condemns in the strongest possible terms the appellate court’s confirmation of the three-and-a-half-year prison sentence handed down to journalists Mourad Zeghidi and Borhen Bsaies. This verdict constitutes yet another act of manipulating the justice system, with a clear objective: to silence free speech and intimidate anyone who dares to think differently, speak out, or refuse to conform.

What is happening today to Mourad and Borhen encapsulates two realities that have become inextricably linked: dictatorship and mob justice. Two approaches that are organized, openly embraced, and now systematic.

It all began with their arrest under Decree-Law 54. In other words: they were arrested for doing their jobs and expressing their opinions. Eight months in prison each, for words, analyses, and stances taken. This is dictatorship in its most classic form: the kind that fears even the echo of its own voice, the kind that turns criticism into a threat and opinion into a crime.

Then, as their release approached, a financial scandal conveniently arose. Their detention was extended. Three and a half years in prison at the first trial. A sentence upheld today on appeal. Such is the retribution. Such is also the hallmark of closed, populist regimes: they fear ideas and fear even more their circulation within society.

Kaïs Saïed and his regime are two sides of the same coin. Two equally hideous sides: dictatorship and populism.

Their modus operandi is now clear for all to see: high-profile arrests and a justice system brought to heel.

These high-profile arrests rest on two pillars. First, campaigns designed to stifle public discourse. May 2024 provided the most brutal illustration of this, with a massive wave of prosecutions and arrests targeting journalists, lawyers, activists, and critical voices. Second, the terror inflicted on the families, loved ones, and social circles of those targeted. Repression thus becomes a form of collective punishment, intended to isolate, break, and silence.

The judiciary, acting under orders, operates on two complementary fronts. On the one hand, there are repressive laws that criminalize opinions: the tools of dictatorship. On the other, there are financial scandals blown out of proportion: the tools of populism. Ordinary acts are transformed into moral crimes in order to create scapegoats and fuel a cycle of public hatred.

Kaïs Saïed and his regime are nothing but a worthless currency, devoid of both political and moral value. A regime that builds nothing, but instead strikes, divides, and destroys: the past, the present, and the future.

The Committee:

• Reiterates its full solidarity with Mourad Zeghidi, Borhen Bsaies, their families, and all journalists and civil liberties advocates who are being prosecuted for their opinions;
• Condemns the use of the justice system as a tool for political revenge and repression;
• Calls for the immediate release of Mourad Zeghidi, Borhen Bsaies, and all prisoners of conscience in Tunisia;
• Calls for the repeal of all laws criminalizing freedom of expression, starting with Decree-Law 54;
• Holds the government fully responsible for the ongoing destruction of political, media, and judicial life in Tunisia.

Repression does not bring stability.
Populism does not offer a future.
And no society can survive in the long run when freedom becomes a crime.