Tunisian journalist Zouhair Makhlouf was released from prison on 12 February, after serving three months and three weeks of a four-month sentence handed down to him for “insulting” the dignity of a man he had interviewed.

Makhlouf was arrested on 21 October 2009, a few days before the presidential elections, and was sentenced to four months in prison in December. He was jailed after a local potter, who was interviewed for a documentary on pollution in the industrial area of Nabeul in northeast Tunisia, filed a complaint with the police, claiming that his image had been used without his permission.

“It’s very common for the authorities to act in this way, putting pressure on people to bring charges against journalists,” Tunisian press freedom activist and journalist Naziha Rjiba told IPI at the time.

“We do not know on what basis the Tunisian authorities made this surprise decision, but it is very good news,” Makhlouf’s lawyer said of the early release, according to local news reports. Makhlouf was originally scheduled to be released on 19 February.