Tunisian Journalists Syndicate: Journalist Mohamed Al-Youssoufi was arrested before his radio program

The head of the Tunisian Journalists Syndicate said that today, Friday (September 4, 2026), the police arrested the prominent journalist Mohamed Al-Youssoufi, a voice strongly critical of the policies of President Kais Saied.

Ziad Dabbar, head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, and other journalists said that the police arrested Youssoufi while he was preparing to enter Express FM radio to participate in a radio program.

Human rights organizations, including the Journalists Syndicate and Amnesty International, criticize the issuance of Decree 54 issued by President Saied in 2022 to regulate crimes related to communication and information systems, which sparked lawsuits against journalists, lawyers, and activists on charges related to publishing incorrect news or defamation.

Human rights organizations, including the Journalists Syndicate and the Freedom Observatory, also criticized filing lawsuits for financial crimes against journalists and activists. The Freedom Observatory said that the frequency of prosecutions, from expression cases to financial lawsuits, reflects a disturbing pattern based on the accumulation of cases to prolong imprisonment and exhaust journalists judicially and professionally, which threatens freedom of the press, opinion and expression.

The authorities in Tunisia say that the lawsuits are an application of the law to everyone without exception.

Edited by: Adel Al-Sharawat