Tunis – A Tunisian journalist detained after criticising the interior ministry on social media was released on Friday, her lawyer told AFP.
Chahrazed Akacha, editor-in-chief of a news website, is still subject to legal proceedings, said the lawyer, Samir Dilou.
Her detention on Thursday for allegedly “harming other people’s peace through public telecommunication networks” had been condemned by the SNJT journalists’ union.
The detention followed an order Thursday from the public prosecutor in Ariana, near Tunis, the SNJT said in a statement.
The proceedings were launched after Akacha, a critic of President Kais Saied’s July 2021 power grab, hit out at the ministry on her Facebook page.
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Two days before her detention, Akacha had accused Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine of “setting the dogs loose” to attack her following her remarks.
Her detention was a new sign of “a real backwards step in press freedom and freedom of expression in Tunisia”, the SNJT said.
Akacha told local television on April 12 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.
In late March, the SNJT accused authorities of using state apparatuses to “silence and intimidate” journalists after a correspondent was detained for refusing to reveal his sources.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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