Sassi was arrested on Wednesday at his home.
The Al Jazeera journalist, Samir Sassi, has been launched by a court docket in Tunis, following his arrest on terrorism expenses earlier this week.
Police first entered Sassi’s home late on Wednesday night, looking out his laptop and confiscating his cell phone and people of his spouse and 4 youngsters.
Chatting with the press company AFP, Sassi’s lawyer, Ayachi Hammami – a outstanding former member of parliament and human rights activist, confirmed that his consumer had been launched.
Talking individually, a supply with information of the matter urged to Al Jazeera that no additional motion was presently being thought of by authorities, “for now, at least,” they added.
Responding to Sassi’s launch, Khaled Drareni, the North African consultant of the press freedom organisation, Reporters Sans Frontieres instructed Al Jazeera, “We condemn the unjustified arrest of Samir Sassi, and proceed to name on the Tunisian authorities to stop all types of harassment in opposition to journalists.
“In our view, this latest arrest is further evidence of the authorities’ strategy of threatening press freedom in the country and creating a climate of fear for journalists,” he stated.
Prosecutions of journalists and opponents of the federal government have continued apace for the reason that introduction of Decree Legislation 54, ostensibly supposed to fight misinformation on-line. Its provisions have more and more been used to muzzle criticism of Saied’s presidency. On the time of writing, greater than 20 journalists and activists had been awaiting trial after being charged for on-line offences.
Police not too long ago arrested three journalists – Khalifa Guesmi of Mosaique FM, Chadha Hadj Mbarek, and well-known radio journalist Zied el-Heni on December 28, charging him with insulting Tunisian Commerce Minister Kalthoum Ben Rejeb, on his radio programme, Emission Unattainable.
“The detention of journalists in such a reckless manner reflects an authoritarian mindset of the authorities tracking anyone who expresses their opinion,” Mahdi Jlassi, president of the Nationwide Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), instructed Al Jazeera. “What’s alarming in Samir Sassi’s case is that he was interrogated for 48 hours beneath the terrorism regulation, disadvantaged of his proper to have a lawyer current throughout the interrogation.
“This constitutes a blatant violation of fair trial conditions. This breach, along with the disregard for procedures, the right to defence, the right to a fair trial, and ensuring the presumption of innocence … all are characteristics of political trials and trials based on opinion in Tunisia for over two years.”
The United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk stated final yr he was “deeply concerned” concerning the crackdown on media in Tunisia, with vaguely worded laws used to criminalise criticism.
The SNJT is at the moment planning on staging a protest exterior the nation’s principal court docket in Tunis when el-Heni, the radio journalist, seems there on Wednesday.