Tunisia rearrests journalist Zied el-Heni, who launches hunger strike

New York, April 28, 2026—Tunisian authorities must immediately release journalist Zied el-Heni, who has been placed in pretrial detention over a social media post last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. 

El-Heni, editor-in-chief of independent news site Tunisian Press, was arrested on April 24, 2026, after complying with a summons to appear before the Fifth Central Unit for Combating Information and Communication Technology Crime in the capital, Tunis. He started a hunger strike on April 26 in protest of his detention, his daughter Ela el-Heni told CPJ via email.

He is being investigated under Article 86 of the telecommunications code over a post in which he criticized a judicial decision related to journalist Ghassen Ben Khelifa, who was sentenced in March 2026 to two years in prison. El Heni’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 30, according to a local journalist who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

“Detaining Zied El-Heni over a social media post critical of a judicial decision is a clear example of how Tunisian authorities are weaponizing the law to silence journalists,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “Authorities must immediately release El-Heni and stop using vague legal provisions to target the press.”

El-Heni is being investigated under Article 86 of the telecommunications code, which carries penalties of up to two years in prison. Press freedom advocates have repeatedly warned that the provision is overly broad and prone to abuse in cases involving online expression. 

By applying ordinary criminal laws to journalistic work, authorities are directly violating Decree-Law 115, which guarantees that journalists are tried only under the press code.

El-Heni has faced repeated judicial harassment in recent years tied to his public commentary. In 2023, he was arrested twice over remarks made on independent radio station IFM’s program “Émission Impossible.” He was later handed a six-months suspended prison sentence. He is currently being held in pre-trial detention at Mornaguia prison in Tunis, according to the local journalist.

El-Heni’s detention comes amid a broader pattern of escalating judicial harassment on journalists in Tunisia, . On March 30, 2026, journalist Ghassen Ben Khelifa was sentenced to two years in prison in a case dating from 2022, and journalist Sonia Dahmani was sentenced to 18 months in prison on April 13. Both journalists are free but risk arrest at any time.

CPJ emailed the Tunisian presidency for comment but did not receive a response.