Tunisian court sentences journalist Boukrim to four years in absentia

A Tunisian court has sentenced prominent journalist Khaoula Boukrim to four years in prison in absentia, a ruling that critics say exemplifies a growing suppression of free speech under President Kais Saied. Boukrim, the founder of the news website TUMEDIA, fled to Paris in December after learning that legal cases were being prepared against her due to her critical stance towards the president and his associates. The sentence was issued under Decree-Law 54, a 2022 cybercrime law that rights groups argue is increasingly used to prosecute government critics and curtail freedom of expression, while authorities maintain it is necessary to combat misinformation.

The ruling against Boukrim follows the imprisonment of several other media figures earlier this year, including Zied Heni, Mourad Zghidi, and Borhen Bsaies. Rights organizations have expressed concern over the escalating attempts to silence independent voices since President Saied dissolved the elected parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. This shift is seen by critics as a dismantling of democratic safeguards established after the 2011 uprising. Opposition leaders, politicians, activists, and businessmen have also been jailed in recent years on various charges, though Saied asserts that freedoms are guaranteed and denies intentions of becoming a dictator.