Tunisia sentences journalists to a year in prison for criticizing the government

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA
Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A Tunisian court has sentenced two TV and radio journalists to one year in prison for criticizing the government on their programs and on social networks. The court said Thursday that Borhane Bsaïs and Mourad Zeghidi were each given six months’ imprisonment for disseminating “fake news” and an additional six months for “making false statements with the aim of defaming others,” in reference to Tunisian President Kaïs Saied. The sentences come less than two weeks after both were arrested. They are among a broader group of journalists, activists and lawyers charged under Decree 54, a law criminalizing the dissemination of “fake news” aimed at harming public safety or national defense. The law has been widely criticized by rights advocates.