Tunisian journalist and media figure Mohamed Boughalleb was released from prison on Thursday following a court decision, though he remains barred from leaving the country, his lawyer told AFP.
Boughalleb, 61, had been detained since March last year and was being prosecuted under a presidential decree aimed at combating “false news” following a complaint from a civil servant.
His lawyer, Hamadi Zaafrani, told AFP that a court had granted the defence’s request to set him free, but required him to remain in Tunisia as a hearing in his case had been postponed until 21 April.
Over the course of Boughalleb’s detention, rights groups and his family have called for his release, citing health issues as he suffers from diabetes and heart trouble.
An outspoken critic of President Kais Saied, Boughalleb was arrested by a cybercrime unit for “insulting others” on social media after comments he posted online about a religious affairs ministry official.
He was also charged over comments he made on a radio show, according to his lawyers.
He was initially sentenced to six months in prison, but a month later a Tunis appeals court handed him two additional months.
His release comes the day after prominent human rights activist Sihem Bensedrine was also released from detention.
Last month, Bassem Trifi, head of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, had said Boughalleb was in “serious health condition”.
Trifi, along with dozens of human rights defenders and lawmakers, also called for the repeal or revision of Decree 54, the measure under which Boughalleb and other critics of Saied have been detained.
Trifi said around 400 people were being prosecuted under the law.
In a statement posted on social media, the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) said Boughalleb’s release was “a new slap in the face of Decree 54”, which it called “a weapon to persecute opinion-holders and journalists”.
The SNJT also called for the release of the remaining journalists detained under the law.
Enacted in 2022 by Saied, Decree 54 mandates five-year prison terms for using communications networks to “produce, spread, (or) disseminate… false news”.
Last month, Sonia Dahmani, another prominent figure detained under the law, saw her request for release turned down by a court. She is currently serving 26 months after being convicted in two different cases.
Saied was elected in 2019, after Tunisia emerged as the only democracy to arise from the Arab Spring.
But in 2021, he staged a sweeping power grab, and human rights groups have since warned of a rollback on freedoms.
