TUNIS — A
Tunisian journalist and activist was released on bail Sunday, five days after
his arrest on suspicion of “terrorism”, his website said.
اضافة اعلان
Ghassen Ben Khlifa,
editor of the website Inhiyez and a prominent pro-Palestinian activist, was
arrested at his home on Tuesday.
The case against
him is the latest in what civil society groups describe as a growing threat to
freedom of the press in Tunisia under President
Kais Saied.
Police officers
also searched Ben Khlifa’s house and seized two computers, according to
multiple media reports.
His lawyer, quoted
by local media, said Ben Khlifa was suspected of running a Facebook page that
“incites terrorism”.
The judiciary has
agreed to release Ben Khlifa on bail for the duration of the investigation,
according to Inhiyez.
Dozens of activists
and journalists demonstrated in central Tunis on Friday to demand his release.
The North African
country has seen a spike in prosecutions of journalists, including in military
courts, since Saied seized wide-ranging powers last year.
Civil society
groups have warned of a return to the methods used by security services under
autocrat
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was overthrown in the 2011 revolt that
sparked the Arab Spring uprisings.
In a report
released in early May, the SNJT journalists’ union warned against “serious
threats” to press freedom in the country.
On August 17, a
military court sentenced an anti-Saied journalist to three months in prison for
public remarks he made about the president and the armed forces.
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