Tunisian journalist syndicate condemns detention for “fake pretext”

A arrest, according to the union, was carried out through a person who claimed to be a “employee of a delivery company”, who informed the team of journalists that “they had paid him to transport them to their premises”.

Upon arriving at the indicated location, journalists “were surprised” to find “a vehicle” in which a “group of security guards, dressed in civilian clothes”, who asked them to come up and do it “without causing disturbances”.

The journalists, according to the SNTJ, stated that the arrest was accompanied by “abuse language and degrading treatment” by some of the security guards and that they were subsequently taken to a police station to be questioned in the context of “investigation on participants” of some protests called on Saturday in solidarity with the members of Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza who were arrested on March 6 for alleged money laundering.

The journalists arrested suffered an attempt to “access to their mobile phones” by the guards and “refused” to deliver those equipment, demanding “a judicial authorisation” and a “clarification” about their legal situation.

The union reported that the arrest of journalists with a “false pretext” and their transfer to a security centre “without notice” constitute a “ flagrant violation” of the law, while alerting the “danger” that represents the “attempt” of access to journalists’ mobile phones.

The trade union association called on the Tunisian authorities to open an “administrative investigation” on “violations committed” against journalists arrested.

Since Tunisian President Kais Said took full power in 2021 and reformed the political system and the Constitution, international organizations have been denouncing an intensification of “repression” to the press, dissidents and critical voices in general.