On Tuesday, a Tunisian court sentenced editor Zouhair Makhlouf to three months in prison for publishing a damaging interview without consent. He has also been ordered to pay 6,000 Tunisian dinar (about 3,100 Euro) in damages.

His lawyers, who plan to appeal the decision, complained that the trial was unfair and that the judge interrupted their statements, news reports say.

Makhlouf was arrested on 21 October, days before the Tunisian presidential elections, and has been in detention ever since.

Makhlouf, editor of the opposition El-Mawkif and news website Essabil Online, was jailed in connection with an investigative documentary he produced about pollution in the industrial area of Nabeul in northeast Tunisia, where he lives. He was charged with breaching the Tunisia Communication Code when a local potter interviewed for the documentary filed a complaint with the police, claiming that his image had been used without his permission.

Makhlouf’s lawyers claim that that the plaintiff, Mourad Ladib, had originally given his consent but was later “incited” by police to file the complaint against the outspoken reporter, according to AFP.

Naziha Rjiba, editor at Kalima online magazine and vice-president of the Tunis-based Observatory for Freedom of the Press (OLPEC), told IPI that such police tactics are standard practice for the Tunisian authorities.

“It’s very common for the authorities to act in this way, putting pressure on people to bring charges against journalists. This is exactly what happened with Taoufik Ben Brik,” said Rjiba.

“When you watch the video, it is easy to understand that the plaintiff was aware that this was a news report and that he consented” to appear in it, lawyer Faouzi Ben Mrad told the Associated Press.

Having viewed the video, Rjiba also said it was clear that Ladib had agreed to be filmed.

Rjiba added that the process has been deeply distressing for Makhlouf, who she says is unwell.

“We repeat our call for the Tunisian authorities to end the persecution and harassment of journalists,” said IPI Deputy Director Alison Bethel-McKenzie. “The systematic attacks meted out against the independent media in Tunisia over the past few months are an insult to press freedom and, for that matter, democracy. We join in solidarity with our colleague and call for his swift release.”

This decision comes only a week after government critic Taoufik Ben Brik was sentenced to six months in prison for assaulting a woman in public, on charges that have been widely derided by free press and human rights group as baseless and politicized.

Journalists who are critical of the government are constantly monitored, and have been prevented from visiting one another, reports say. On 17 November, Omar Mestiri, director of independent station Radio Kalima, was abducted by unknown assailants for several hours.

In late October, freelance journalist Slim Boukhdir was also abducted by unknown attackers. He was severely beaten, stripped of his clothes and left in a Tunis park. His home was surrounded by security forces that prevented him from meeting visitors for days afterwards, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).