Journalist Mourad Zeghidi appeared on Thursday for the third time before the investigating judge at the Tunis court of first instance, as part of a case linked to accusations of money laundering.
The hearing was lifted around 1:00 p.m., after the pleadings of his lawyers who asked for the provisional release of their client, detained for almost a year. The decision was not decided during this session, said Maître Ghazi Mrabet, member of the Defense Collective, in a declaration to the TAP agency.
In the morning, a rally of support was held before the court at the call of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) and at the request of the journalist’s family. Several colleagues, human rights activists, political personalities and family members have claimed the release of Zeghidi and all detained persons “for expressed their opinions”, calling for respect for press freedom and the independence of justice.
During this rally, the president of the SNJT, Zied Dabbar, described the accusations brought against Zeghidi as “policies and unfounded”, and renewed his call for his liberation as well as that of other imprisoned journalists.
Last week, Me Mrabet said at a press conference that the case involving his client concerned unpaid bills, financial offenses which, according to him, do not justify a prison sentence but can be the subject of an amicable settlement.
As a reminder, Mourad Zeghidi was arrested on May 11, 2024. He was sentenced on July 30, 2024 to one year in prison in another case linked to the use of information systems to disseminate false information. This sentence had been reduced to eight months, a penalty purged last January.
A second deposit warrant was issued in December 2024 for accusations of criminal association and money laundering.
