Press freedom and political detention

Dabbar's demand is legislative rather than case by case: Decree-Law 54 must be revised without delay, because its use has spread from cybercrime into matters of opinion and expression. His union also opposes the courts' recourse to article 86 of the Telecommunications Code and insists press cases belong under Decree-Law 115 of 2011.

”l'élargissement de ses usages dans les affaires d'opinion et d'expression représente un danger pour l'avenir de la profession journalistique”the widening of its uses into matters of opinion and expression represents a danger for the future of the journalistic profession

El Mekki announced his own conviction and read it as a message to critical voices. He says he has faced three judicial summonses since 2023, all of them tied to his broadcasts and his posts. On the Sfax case he says the first instance dismissed it before the appeal court convicted him, and that although the prosecution was opened under Decree-Law 54 the judgment rested on article 86, a change of legal basis that on his account does not alter the repressive logic. He had been living in France for several weeks when the verdict came.

”Aujourd'hui, Haythem est condamné à un an de prison. Le message a été bien reçu.”Today, Haythem is sentenced to a year in prison. The message has been well received.

El-Heni's argument is jurisdictional. He says he is willing to be tried for the facts alleged against him, but only under Decree-Law 115 of 2011 on press freedom, and that outside that framework he considers himself a political prisoner. He first refused to appeal his one-year sentence, calling the refusal an act of resistance rather than an admission of guilt, and calling his detention arbitrary and the proceedings illegitimate. On 14 May 2026 he reversed that refusal and lodged an appeal, saying his supporters had asked him to keep the fight going, while holding to his rejection of any trial outside Decree-Law 115. The appeal court upheld the sentence on 26 June 2026.

”Je suis prêt à être jugé pour les faits qui m'ont été reprochés, mais exclusivement dans le cadre du décret-loi n°115 de l'année 2011 relatif à la liberté de la presse. En dehors de ce cadre, je me considère comme un détenu politique”I am ready to be tried for the facts held against me, but exclusively within the framework of Decree-Law 115 of 2011 on press freedom. Outside that framework, I consider myself a political prisoner

Trifi frames the prosecutions as a single political pattern rather than a series of separate criminal cases, and says civic and political work is being criminalised. He rejects the Ministry of Justice's accusation that the league breached the 2015 memorandum on prison visits, says the LTDH has never violated it or circulated false information, and objects to prisons being made hermetically closed places.

”le pouvoir politique en place n'écoute que lui-même et jette en prison quiconque n'est pas d'accord avec lui”the political power in place listens only to itself and throws in prison anyone who disagrees with it

Taking over as chair of the General Legislation Committee, Daas said in January 2026 that amending Decree-Law 54 would head the agenda of the current session. He accepted that the way the decree has been applied has narrowed the political and media space, and pointed to the many prosecutions brought against citizens under it. His committee planned a series of wide hearings with the government, the SNJT, the bar, the magistrates' association, experts and civil society, with article 24 and its heavy penalties expected to be the central question.

Latif's account is not about courts at all. Telvza TV published a text on 20 July 2026 announcing that it was suspending its broadcasts, citing continued pressure and practices by the National Broadcasting Office and the absence of any real response from official bodies to the problems raised. The channel said the suspension would hold until an official body stepped in and listened to its demands. Latif posted the text on his Facebook page as a message to the president, the finance minister, the head of government, the communications ministry, parliament and the Tunisian people. Neither the channel's text nor the report explains what the dispute with the public body responsible for transmission is about.