Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms condemns the ruling issued today, Thursday, 22 January 2026, by the Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance in Tunis, sentencing journalists Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies to three and a half years in prison on charges related to alleged money laundering and tax evasion. The ruling also imposes financial fines and orders the confiscation of their assets and shares in the companies in which they hold interests, in favor of the Tunisian public treasury.
Mourad Zghidi was arrested on 12 May 2024 for his media statements and opinions, while Borhen Bsaies was arrested on 11 May 2024 in connection with media content, including radio and television appearances and posts on his personal social media accounts. Both were initially sentenced to one year in prison, a sentence that was later reduced on appeal to eight months. However, only days before the completion of their sentences, an investigating judge at the Court of First Instance in Tunis issued new detention warrants against them on 3 December 2024, based on allegations related to money laundering.
The judicial proceedings were marked by numerous procedural and legal violations, including serious breaches of the right to defense and the presumption of innocence. The detention warrants were issued without interrogating the defendants or allowing the defense access to the case file, and requests for their release were repeatedly rejected.
Intersection Association expresses its full solidarity with journalists Borhen Bsaies and Mourad Zghidi and calls for an end to the injustice imposed on them, particularly the grave violation of the presumption of innocence and the denial of their right to defend themselves at the time the detention warrants were issued. This constitutes a clear violation of the fundamental principle that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, a constitutional principle protected by international and regional human rights instruments, which the Tunisian state is obligated to uphold for all its citizens without discrimination. These violations are further aggravated by the repeated refusal to grant their release.
The Association also warns against the continued use of such violations and punitive trials, which confirm the persistence of state policies aimed at silencing dissenting voices and intimidating citizens through unjust prison sentences, relying on legislation and procedures used to restrict freedoms. Such practices risk pushing Tunisia back toward authoritarianism and prior censorship.
In conclusion, Intersection Association calls on all civil and political forces to mobilize against these systematic and repeated violations, to stand united in defense of press freedom and freedom of opinion and expression, and to denounce trials targeting critical voices, including the prosecution of journalists Borhen Bsaies and Mourad Zghidi, as well as other opinion-based prosecutions in Tunisia. These cases reflect a state policy that undermines rights and freedoms, foremost among them freedom of expression.
