Prominent Tunisian journalist Haythem El Mekki and critic of President Kais Saied said on Wednesday that he was sentenced to one year in prison over posts he made on social media. El Mekki, known for his political commentary, was a regular host on Mosaique FM's flagship "Midi Show" before he left the station. Authorities opened an investigation against him in 2024 under Decree 54 -- a law Saied enacted to combat "false news" -- after he decried poor conditions at a public hospital morgue in the coastal city of Sfax. A lower court had dismissed the case, but an appeals court handed him the 12-month jail term, he said on Facebook. The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists condemned the ruling in a statement, warning of a "worrying trend" and a "climate of intimidation and self-censorship.” Mekki has been prosecuted three times since 2023, in each case over comments he had made online or in the media. Although Mekki has recently distanced himself from the media, he remains active on social networks. He is also a member of the editorial board of Rachma, an independent Tunisian media platform. Freedom of expression was celebrated as a main achievement of the 2011 uprising that toppled president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia. But since Saied's July 25, 2021 power grab, several NGOs and the opposition have lamented a decline in rights and freedoms.
