SHAFAQNA- Tunisian journalist detained after criticising the interior ministry on social media was released.
The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) on Thursday (14 Apr 2022) night denounced the detention of Chahrazed Akacha who had criticised the interior ministry, calling it a “backwards step” for freedom of expression.
Akacha, Editor-in-Chief of a news website, was detained on suspicion of “harming other people’s peace through public telecommunication networks,” the journalists’ union said. The journalist is still subject to legal proceedings, the lawyer, Samir Dilou, told AFP.
The proceedings were launched after Akacha, a critic of President Kais Saied’s power grab last year, hit out at the ministry on her Facebook page Two days before her detention, Akacha accused Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine of “setting the dogs loose” to attack her following her remarks.
The authorities had acted on an order from the public prosecutor in Ariana, near Tunis, the union said in a statement. Akacha’s detention was a new sign of “a real backwards step in press freedom and freedom of expression in Tunisia,” the SNJT said.
The journalist told local television on 12 April that she had already been questioned once for undermining the dignity of the interior minister, the head of state and national security.
The judiciary “continues to consider journalists who express their ideas… as dangerous elements for society,” the union said, calling for Akacha’s immediate release.
Source: middleeasteye