| On July 10, 2025, the Criminal Chamber of the Tunis Court of First Instance, presided over by Judge Salah Fatnassi, sentenced journalist Mohamed Boughalleb to two years' imprisonment under article 24 of Decree-Law 2022-54 for a Facebook post attributed to his name, allegedly defaming a female university lecturer. This infamous verdict is part of a continuing systematic judicial persecution of a critical, independent journalist who is disturbing the authoritarian regime of Kaïs Saïed. This case, which began with a simple complaint based on a screenshot with no technical verification, should have been dismissed. The defense repeatedly pointed out that the account behind the publication did not belong to it, and that no digital expertise had been carried out. Despite the absence of material evidence and the manifestly flawed nature of the proceedings, the Criminal Division upheld the accusation, ignoring the most elementary rules of a fair trial. Already sentenced to eight months' imprisonment in 2024 for criticizing a minister in a radio broadcast, Mohamed Boughalleb was imprisoned on March 22, 2024, and then kept in detention in this second case. He was released on February 20, 2025, before being tried again as a criminal for an offence of opinion. Judge Fatnassi, already the author of the disgraceful judgment against Abir Moussi on the basis of the same article 24, persists in his role as a zealous relay of political instructions. This conviction comes at a time when Mohamed Boughalleb's state of health has deteriorated. He suffers from chronic illnesses (diabetes, hypertension, prostate problems), has lost 70% of his eyesight, and has not seen his daughter, who lives abroad, for two years. The CRLDHT again denounces - A serious judicial drift where the absence of proof does not prevent imprisonment. - The instrumentalization of Decree-Law 54, which has become a weapon of mass destruction of freedom of expression. - State vengeance against a committed journalist, whose only crime is to have spoken out. We demand: - The annulment of the verdict, and an end to legal proceedings based on unauthenticated accusations. - The repeal of decree-law 2022-54, or failing that, its immediate suspension in all matters of opinion. The CRLDHT calls on: - Journalists' unions, bar associations, NGOs and public figures to mobilize to break the silence. - International partners to denounce this verdict in all their official communications with Tunisia. - UN Special Rapporteurs, the African Commission on Human Rights and the European Parliament to take up the case of Mohamed Boughalleb as a symbol of the criminalization of opinion in Tunisia. Silence would be complicity. Solidarity is urgently needed. Mohamed Boughalleb has committed no crime. He exercised a freedom |
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