Tunisia suspends independent media group amid broader crackdown

Tunisian authorities on Friday ordered the suspension of the Nawaat journalists' group, which runs one of the country’s leading independent investigative media outlets, in a widening crackdown on free speech and civil society.

The one-month suspension follows similar actions against prominent civil society groups such as the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights and the Association of Democratic Women, both known for defending civil liberties.

Authorities cited financial audits linked to foreign funding as justification, but rights advocates said the real aim was to silence dissenting voices.

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists condemned the suspension as “a dangerous escalation in efforts to muzzle independent journalism under an administrative guise”.

Some of the gains in press freedom that followed the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali have been eroded since President Kais Saied started ruling by decree in 2021.

Founded in 2004, Nawaat carried out investigations on corruption and human rights abuses before and after the revolution.

In a statement, Nawaat said it would not be "intimidated by the current political climate or campaigns of defamation."

At least a dozen Tunisian political activists have been imprisoned, several NGOs have reported frozen bank accounts, and at least five journalists jailed under Saied's rule.

State media have excluded unions and opposition voices from the airwaves, functioning mainly as platforms for the authorities, the union said.

Saied rejects the criticism, insisting that freedoms are protected and that he will not become a dictator.