Court upholds six-year jail sentence for TV reporter who covered mining region unrest

An appeal court in Gafsa (400 km south of Tunis) has confirmed the six-year prison sentence that was imposed on reporter Fahem Boukadous of the satellite TV station el Hiwar el Tounissi in connection with his coverage of last year's demonstrations in the Gafsa mining region. Boukadous is still in hiding.

His sentence was upheld as part of a ruling concerning all of the 38 people who were convicted for their alleged participation in the protests.

“The extensive media coverage of this appeal hearing and the presence of many international observers are indicative of the strong support for the Gafsa defendants, but it seems to have had little impact on the court,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“Boukadous is now condemned to continue living in hiding, with all of the trauma and health problems that implies,” the press freedom organisation added. “It is appalling that he has been given this prison sentence solely because he did his job as a reporter.”

Aged 38, Boukadous was convicted on a charge of “participating in a criminal arrangement with the intention of harming people and their property.” His lawyer said all Boukadous did was “transmit video footage of a popular uprising.” The lawyer added that: “The aim of this trial is to forbid a journalist to report the events in Gafsa.”

During the appeal hearing, the defence lawyers claimed there had been many irregularities including the use of torture to extract confessiond and a refusal to hear witnesses for the defence.