{
  "id": 124,
  "slug": "2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54",
  "title": "Tunisia's cybercrime decree pushes jailed-journalist count to highest since 1992",
  "occurred_on": "2025-01-16",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "TN",
  "country": "TN",
  "continent": "africa",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
  "leader_slug": "kais-saied",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Decree-Law 54, issued by President Kais Saied in 2022 without a sitting parliament, criminalized spreading what authorities deem \"false news\" online, and by January 2025 had become the basis for jailing a record number of Tunisian journalists.",
  "outcome": "sustained",
  "outcome_on": null,
  "outcome_note": "Decree-Law 54 remained in force and continued to produce new prosecutions, which CPJ said brought jailed-journalist numbers to a record.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "The Committee to Protect Journalists found at least four journalists imprisoned under Tunisia's 2022 Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime as of January 2025, including radio hosts Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, pushing the country's jailed-journalist count to its highest since 1992 under President Kais Saied.{c:464}",
  "what_happened": "The Committee to Protect Journalists reported on January 16, 2025 that at least four of five imprisoned Tunisian journalists were convicted under Decree-Law 54, a 2022 cybercrime decree President Kais Saied issued while ruling by decree without a sitting parliament. Radio hosts Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies of IFM each received one-year sentences, commentator Sonia Dahmani's one-year sentence was reduced to eight months on appeal before she received an additional two-year sentence, and journalist Mohamed Boughaleb received six months on a separate defamation charge. The head of Tunisia's journalists' union, Ziad Debbar, said the decree had turned every journalist into a suspect. The International Commission of Jurists said Tunisian authorities were using the decree to arbitrarily restrict dissenting voices, in violation of the country's human rights obligations, subjecting journalists, politicians and rights defenders to prosecution, investigation and imprisonment.{c:464}{c:465}{c:466}",
  "stated_justification": "Decree-Law 54 targets content that \"produces, spreads, disseminates, sends or writes false news\" seen as threatening \"rights of others, public safety or national defense or sowing terror.\"{c:465}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Tunisia, once cited as a rare post-Arab Spring press-freedom success, reached its highest count of imprisoned journalists since 1992, with radio hosts and commentators serving sentences of six months to more than two years for broadcast commentary and online statements.{c:464}{c:465}{c:466}",
  "unknowns": null,
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T23:17:43Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 5,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:17:38Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T00:09:22Z",
  "stage": "punish",
  "ladder_note": null,
  "country_name": "Tunisia",
  "tactics": [
    "insult_and_defamation_laws",
    "detention_and_violence"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "kais-saied",
    "name": "Kais Saied",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/kais-saied"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T23:17:43Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": null
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "kais-saied",
      "name": "Kais Saied",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/kais-saied"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 464,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 124,
      "field": "occurred_on",
      "value": "2025-01-16",
      "statement": "Tunisia's journalists' union head said the decree had turned every journalist into a suspect.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 317,
      "evidence_quote": "Decree 54 has now turned every journalist into a suspect,",
      "evidence_date": "2025-01-16",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:17:39Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 317,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2025/01/tunisia-uses-new-cybercrime-law-to-jail-record-number-of-journalists/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2025/01/tunisia-uses-new-cybercrime-law-to-jail-record-number-of-journalists/",
        "title": "Tunisia uses new cybercrime law to jail record number of journalists",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2025-01-16",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/464"
    },
    {
      "id": 465,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 124,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Decree targets 'false news' threatening public safety",
      "statement": "The decree criminalizes producing or spreading false news deemed to threaten rights, public safety or national defense.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 317,
      "evidence_quote": "produce[s], spread[s], disseminate[s], send[s] or write[s] false news",
      "evidence_date": "2025-01-16",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:17:39Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 317,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2025/01/tunisia-uses-new-cybercrime-law-to-jail-record-number-of-journalists/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2025/01/tunisia-uses-new-cybercrime-law-to-jail-record-number-of-journalists/",
        "title": "Tunisia uses new cybercrime law to jail record number of journalists",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2025-01-16",
        "link_state": "live",
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        "wayback_url": null,
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      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/465"
    },
    {
      "id": 466,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 124,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "ICJ says the decree is used to silence dissent",
      "statement": "The International Commission of Jurists said Tunisian authorities used the decree to arbitrarily restrict dissenting and independent voices.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 318,
      "evidence_quote": "The Tunisian authorities are using Decree 54 to arbitrarily silence dissenting and independent voices, in clear violation of the country's obligations under international human rights law",
      "evidence_date": "2023-07-01",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:17:40Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 318,
        "url": "https://www.icj.org/tunisia-silencing-free-voices-a-briefing-paper-on-the-enforcement-of-decree-54-on-cybercrime/",
        "final_url": "https://www.icj.org/tunisia-silencing-free-voices-a-briefing-paper-on-the-enforcement-of-decree-54-on-cybercrime/",
        "title": "Tunisia: Silencing Free Voices, a briefing paper on the enforcement of Decree 54 on 'Cybercrime'",
        "publisher": "International Commission of Jurists",
        "published_on": "2023-07-01",
        "link_state": "live",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/466"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 317,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2025/01/tunisia-uses-new-cybercrime-law-to-jail-record-number-of-journalists/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2025/01/tunisia-uses-new-cybercrime-law-to-jail-record-number-of-journalists/",
      "title": "Tunisia uses new cybercrime law to jail record number of journalists",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2025-01-16",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
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    {
      "id": 318,
      "url": "https://www.icj.org/tunisia-silencing-free-voices-a-briefing-paper-on-the-enforcement-of-decree-54-on-cybercrime/",
      "final_url": "https://www.icj.org/tunisia-silencing-free-voices-a-briefing-paper-on-the-enforcement-of-decree-54-on-cybercrime/",
      "title": "Tunisia: Silencing Free Voices, a briefing paper on the enforcement of Decree 54 on 'Cybercrime'",
      "publisher": "International Commission of Jurists",
      "published_on": "2023-07-01",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Tunisia's cybercrime decree pushes jailed-journalist count to highest since 1992. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}