The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) recommended to the executive, legislative and judicial authorities to "strengthen freedom of expression and press freedom and to stop prosecuting journalists on the basis of Decree-Law No. 54.
It called for a halt to charges relating to state security and terrorism outside the legal framework governing freedom of journalistic work.
In its annual report on the "Reality of press freedom in Tunisia", published on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (3 May), the union called on the Presidency of the Republic to withdraw Decree-Law No. 2022-54 of September 13, 2022, on combating offences relating to information and communication systems "especially as it constitutes a danger to freedom of the press and expression".
In the report published on Friday, it also called on the presidency of the Republic to "assume its full responsibility and intervene urgently to put an end to this orchestrated and barbaric attack on journalists and the media", considering that the reconstruction of a new Tunisia cannot be achieved without professional media and a free and independent civil society.
According to the SNJT, there are today electronic militias that constitute a real threat to the freedom of the press, opinion and expression, adding that "a significant number of suspect pages claim to support the project of the President of the Republic".
The SNJT also called for the strengthening of freedom of expression and the press through legislative initiatives developed within the framework of a participatory approach and to support the efforts of civil society.
For the union, it is necessary not to pass circulars during the transitional period that are likely to undermine rights and freedoms or reduce the gains mentioned in the texts of the law.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse