Zied El Heni

Summary:

Zied El Hani is a Tunisian journalist who was imprisoned on January 1, 2024, accused of insulting others through public communications networks by virtue of Article 86 of the Communications Code. This is on the grounds of criticizing the Minister of Commerce during a radio program on December 28, 2023. 

Personal Information

Name: Zied El Hani

Nationality: Tunisian

Occupation: Journalist

Charge: Insulting others through public communications networks according to Article 86 of the Communications Code.

Incidents of Violation

On Thursday, December 23, 2023, Journalist Zied El Hani received an urgent summons to appear before the 5th Central Unit for Combatting Crimes of Information, Technology, and Communication at the National Guard Barracks in L’Aouina to investigate him as a suspect. It was later revealed, according to the violation victim’s lawyer, that Zied El Hani was summoned due to the radio statements he made on the same day in “Radio IFM,” in which he criticized the current Minister of Commerce, Kalthoum Ben Rajab, and called for her resignation or removal from the current government. He had been interrogated the entire Thursday evening, questioning him about the content of the words he used to address the concerned minister. Later, the public prosecutor decided to keep him in custody for 48 hours. 

On January 1, 2024, the investigating judge at the Court of First Instance in Tunis issued an arrest warrant against Zied El Hani and scheduled January 10th as the date for his appearance before the judiciary. He was charged with insulting others through public communication networks, according to the provisions of Article 87 of the Communications Code. Zied El Hani is currently spending his 7th day in prison, representing a flagrant violation of his right to freedom of expression and an infringement of his rights as a journalist throughout his judicial pursuit outside the framework of Decree 115 related to freedom of press, printing, and publishing. 

Human Rights Violations

The imprisonment of Zied El Hani on the grounds of his media statements in the context of his job as a journalist is a blatant violation of his right to freedom of expression. In addition, trying him under the Communications Code and adopting penal texts outside Decree No.115, which regulates freedom of the press and includes similar criminal offenses resulting in fines, represents a clear violation of freedom of the press in Tunisia. Therefore, the frequency of arrests and judicial persecution targeting journalists has become a tool to intimidate and oppress journalists to silence their voices. This leads to the conclusion of how severe the repressive policy pursued by the Tunisian authorities toward freedom of opinion and expression in general and freedom of the press in particular.

Furthermore, Intersection Association believes that imprisoning and prosecuting citizens based on their opinions is a violation of the Tunisian constitution, which stated in Article 37, “Freedom of opinion, thought, expression, information and publishing are guaranteed.” Moreover, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression by which states seek to protect this right and ensure its fulfillment for everyone. It stipulates that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Besides, General Comment No.34 of the Human Rights Committee in paragraph 34 states that it is impossible to restrict freedom of expression, especially when it concerns public figures, including public officials. This was mentioned in the paragraph above: “All public figures, including those exercising the highest political powers such as heads of states and governments, are legitimately subject to criticism and political opposition.” 

Intersection Association believes that the persecution of journalists for carrying out their work and exercising their right to freedom of the press and expression only reflects the Tunisian state’s continuous violation of freedoms and suppression of any opposing voice. This further contributes to the deterioration of the human rights situation in Tunisia, particularly freedom of expression, which has been facing continuous constraints for years.

Sources

The violation was documented according to a phone call with the victim’s lawyer on December 28, 2023, and based on newspaper articles, in addition to the statement of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists and the statements of local and international human rights organizations.