The International Press Institute (IPI) condemns the conviction and sentencing of two Tunisian journalists, Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, to three-and-a-half years in prison on charges widely viewed as punishment for their critical reporting.
On January 22, a Tunisian court found Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, both well-known media personalities who work for local radio station IFM, guilty of charges of tax evasion – charges the journalists’ families say are aimed at cracking down on media freedom and free expression.
The two journalists will have the opportunity to appeal the verdict.
Zghidi and Bsaies have been imprisoned since May 2024, when they were sentenced to eight months in jail for spreading false news and insulting the president. Before they could complete their sentences, authorities levied new charges of tax evasion, continuing to hold the journalists behind bars in pre-trial detention while they awaited the outcome of that case.
“The Tunisian government’s use of obviously retaliatory charges to target journalists who dare to comment on public policy is deeply concerning,” said IPI Director of Advocacy Amy Brouillette. “The manufactured legal case against Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies is a grave injustice not only against the free press – it is also a direct attack on the Tunisian public’s right to know. IPI urges the courts to reverse course immediately and release these two journalists.”
In reaction to the outcry following Zghidi and Bsaies’s convictions, Tunisian President Kais Saied denied that his government was attempting to restrict press freedom. Yet since coming to power in 2019, Saied has presided over an ever-intensifying crackdown on dissent and civil society, including journalists, ruling largely by decree since his power grab in 2021.
Sonia Dahmani, a prominent media commentator known for her criticism of Saied’s policies, was arrested the same day as Zghidi and Bsaies’s original arrest in May 2024. Accused of spreading false information, she spent a year and a half behind bars before her release in November 2025 following international pressure.