Several hundred Tunisians marched through the capital chanting “down with the dictatorship” Friday as they protested a spate of arrests under a presidential decree critics say is being used to stifle dissent.
Two Tunisian media figures received one-year jail sentences on Wednesday after making comments the authorities deemed critical, in the latest prosecutions under Decree 54, a 2022 ban on “spreading false news”.
“Down with the decree,” the Tunis marchers shouted. “Dictator Kais (Saied), it’s your turn now,” they added, in allusion to the Arab Spring uprising which toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
Broadcaster Borhen Bssais and political commentator Mourad Zeghidi were both jailed for a year on Wednesday, six months for spreading “false news” and a further six months for “spreading news that includes false information with the aim of defaming others”.
Zeghidi’s lawyer, Kamel…
Source: Guardian Newspaper
