Tunisian police arrest prominent journalist Mohamed Yousfi

TUNIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) – A Tunisian judge on Saturday ordered the detention of prominent journalist Mohamed Yousfi, an outspoken critic of President Kais Saied, hours after police arrested him in what critics said was an attempt to stifle dissenting voices.

Police arrested Yousfi as he was preparing to enter Express FM Radio to take part in a radio programme, said Zied Dabbar, president of the journalist syndicate SNJT.

Walid Ben Rhouma, a presenter at Express FM who had invited Yousfi to appear on his programme, said police told him that Yousfi would be taken in for questioning, without giving any reason.

Yousfi, also the editor-in-chief of investigative news website Al-Qatiba, has been heavily critical of Saied’s policies.

The judge ordered Yousfi detained on charges of illicit enrichment and money laundering, the state news agency reported, citing a judicial source.

SNJT said Yousfi was questioned about his journalistic work and Al-Qatiba’s editorial line, linking his arrest to his criticism of the authorities.

SNJT said Yousfi’s arrest was not only an attack on him, but also on all journalists’ right to practice their profession and Tunisians’ right to a free and independent media.

Tunisian authorities did not immediately respond after office hours to Reuters request for comment on the arrest.

Rights groups warn of growing attempts to stifle the remaining independent voices in Tunisia since Saied suspended parliament in 2021 and dissolved it in 2022, ruling by decree.

Several media figures have been jailed this year, including Zied Heni, Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, and Khaoula Boukrim was sentenced in June to four years in absentia.

Free speech initially flourished following the 2011 uprising that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and led to the “Arab Spring”.

But critics say Saied’s accumulation of power in 2021 and decrees he has issued since then have dismantled democratic safeguards and enabled the authorities to pursue many journalists.

Saied says he will not be a dictator and that freedoms are guaranteed in Tunisia.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Rosalba O’Brien and Tom Hogue)