A prominent Tunisian journalist known for his criticism of the government has been released a day after serving a six-month sentence for allegedly assaulting a woman during a traffic incident. Taoufik Ben Brik, whose arrest and imprisonment are widely believed to have been politically motivated, was sentenced to six months in prison with no parole on 26 November 2009 on charges of “assault,” “wilful destruction of property,” and “breach of public decency.” The sentence was upheld on appeal in February.

Ben Brik had written stories critical of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose term as President of Tunisia has entered its twenty-third year, for French media.

As IPI has reported, Ben Brik had previously endured detentions because of his work and been prevented from travelling outside of Tunisia, while his family members have also been harassed on several occasions.

In another violation of press freedom in the country, on 24 April, Tunisian security forces entered the house of opposition journalist Zouhair Makhlouf, assaulted him verbally and physically, and then forced him to go with them to a police station. According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Makhlouf believes he was arrested to prevent him from meeting prominent French lawyer and head of the Paris Bar Association, Christian Charrière-Bournazel, who was in Tunis to meet with journalists and rights activists.

The International Press Institute IPI), represented by Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills, is in Tunisia as part of a mission by the Tunisia Monitoring Group. The mission is surveying press freedom in the country, which has a reputation for severe clampdowns on journalists and the media.

Members of the mission are currently in the city of Gafsa, where the trial of yet another journalist, Fahem Boukadous, on charges of “belonging to a criminal association” and harming public order, was postponed when the journalist had to be hospitalised for breathing problems and asthma.

Updates on this trial, and the mission, will be available on our website, and on our Twitter Feed.