Sassi was arrested after a raid on his family’s home on Wednesday evening.

Al Jazeera journalist Samir Sassi was arrested by Tunisian “anti-terrorism” officers at his home in Tunis.

According to Sassi’s wife, a group of officers searched their home on Wednesday evening, searched the family’s belongings and confiscated the cell phones of all family members, as well as Sassi’s laptop and copies of novels he had written and published locally in Tunisia.

According to Al Jazeera bureau director Lotfi Hajji, after Sassi’s arrest, a team of lawyers spent nearly 12 hours trying to figure out where he had been taken.

Mysterious imprisonment, worried family

“They went from one police station to another, from one court to another, until they finally found out that he had been taken to the anti-terrorism unit in Ariana,” Hajji said. Ariana is a province north of the capital Tunis.

Hajji added that the government had not yet provided any information about what Sassi might be charged with, and such an announcement was not expected to be made until 48 hours had passed since his arrest.

Tunisia is introducing an automatic system 48 hours Period during which a detained person does not have access to a lawyer if arrested on “terrorist” charges.

Sassi’s wife and children are still shaken by the experience and are very worried about him, Hajji said. While Sassi is generally in good health, it is difficult to estimate the conditions in which he will be held and what impact it will have on him physically, he said.

Sassi’s youngest child, Moayed el-Hak, is six years old and suffers from chronic health problems. His three older siblings are his brother Mortadha (19), his sister Tuqa (16) and his brother Mohamed (13).

Suppressed freedoms

Freedom of the press has been drastically restricted in Tunisia, not least due to the introduction of Decree 54 in September 2022.

While the law is ostensibly aimed at spreading false information online, it has also been used against journalists and online activists. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), at least 20 journalists, critics and activists have been arrested under the law so far.

Al Jazeera’s office was closed in July 2021 by the government of President Kais Saied as Saied was involved in a power grab that ended with him ruling the country by decree and paralyzing all its institutions.

Al Jazeera journalists remain accredited in Tunisia and continue their work.

Since then, Tunisia has come under increasing international pressure racially motivated raid about the undocumented black migrants who are traveling from all over Africa to enter the country and are doing so in increasing numbers Authoritarian reactions to most forms of criticism.

Many opposition figures are currently in prison, including Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the self-proclaimed Muslim democrats Ennahda.

Most recently, police arrested three journalists: Khalifa Guesmi of Mosaique FM; Chadha Hadj Mbarek; On December 28, the then well-known radio journalist Zied el-Heni accused him of having insulted Tunisian Trade Minister Kalthoum Ben Rejeb on his radio show “Emission Impossible” on the same day.

The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists had held a meeting on January 3, hours before Sassi’s house was stormed, to discuss how to help Guesmi, Mbarek and el-Heni.

Reacting to the current wave of arrests, Salsabil Chellali, HRW director for Tunisia, told Al Jazeera: “The arrest of these journalists is an ominous start to 2024.”

“We are still figuring out the details of Sassi’s arrest, but it is clear that the threats against the free press and journalists will be put into action this year.”