The imprisoned Franco-Tunisian journalist Mourad Zeghidi has published an open letter calling on President Kaïs Saïed to release him, citing a principle of reconciliation set out by the Head of State himself. The letter was posted on the ‘Free Mourad Zeghidi’ Facebook page. [Source: France 24]

The Franco-Tunisian journalist Mourad Zeghidi, who has been imprisoned in Tunisia since May 2024, has written an open letter to President Kaïs Saïed calling for his release. He bases his request on a principle publicly stated by the President himself, according to which anyone who has settled their affairs with the tax authorities should be eligible for leniency. The text, published on the ‘Free Mourad Zeghidi’ Facebook page, expressly states that this is neither a request for a presidential pardon nor an appeal for clemency, but rather an invocation of a right already articulated by the Head of State. Zeghidi, presenter of the programme “L’Émission impossible” on Radio IFM, was sentenced to several years in prison under Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime, a piece of legislation widely used against critics of the government. His case has prompted a campaign by journalists and press freedom organisations in Tunisia and abroad. This letter comes at a time when President Saïed has recently revived the criminal reconciliation mechanism, a procedure designed to allow those involved in corruption cases to regain their freedom in exchange for a financial settlement with the state.