Dozens of Tunisians including journalists protested Thursday to denounce attacks on press freedom, with some describing the crackdown on media as ‘unprecedented’ since the country’s 2011 revolution.
Demonstrators slammed recent legal and administrative restrictions, including the temporary shutdown of two independent news outlets and the jailing of journalists.
‘Tunisian journalism is at its worst since the 2011 revolution,’ said Mahdi Jlassi, a journalist and former head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, which called for the demonstration.
‘Today we’re seeing unprecedented repression of freedom of the press and expression,’ he said.
‘Innocent journalists are jailed in unjust trials, stripped of their rights and punished for doing their job.’
Independent media outlets Inkyfada and Nawaat were recently among about 20 NGOs that were handed administrative suspensions over accusations including receiving suspicious funds.
‘Injustice in this country is becoming widespread, and it is our duty as journalists to be able to shed light on that without fear,’ said Zied Dabbar, the current head of the SNJT.
Rights groups have warned of a sharp decline in civil liberties in Tunisia since a sweeping power grab by president Kais Saied in July 2021.
Many Saied critics have been prosecuted and detained under Decree 54, a law he enacted in 2022 to prohibit ‘spreading false news’.
Jlassi said the law now ‘hangs like a sword over the neck of journalists’.
Protesters also condemned the denial of press accreditation to some journalists, as well as authorities’ refusal to issue filming permits to foreign correspondents.
Police have recently been preventing most journalists working for local and foreign news organisations from entering courtrooms to cover trials involving political and media figures.
Jlassi said the crackdown was aimed at ‘imposing a media blackout that would allow the authorities to promote their false narratives and suppress all dissenting voices’.
Tunisia dropped 11 places in the 2025 Reporters Without Borders global press freedom index, from 118th to 129th of 180 surveyed countries.
