Tunisia reduces jail term for political commentator

TUNIS: A Tunisian appeals court on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of a political commentator from one year to eight months, local media reported.
Mourad Zeghidi was arrested in May and received an initial 12-month sentence over statements critical of Tunisian authorities.
Zeghidi was convicted along with Borhen Bssais, a TV host whose prison term was also reduced from one year to eight months last week.
The men were prosecuted under Decree 54, a law enacted by President Kais Saied in 2022 to criminalise "spreading false news".
In February, Zeghidi expressed support on social media for the detained journalist Mohamed Boughalleb.
"My job as a political analyst requires that I talk about public issues," Zeghidi said during his hearing in May.
"I'm neither an opponent nor a supporter of the president."
"I would like to know what is the sentence or word that was found to be in violation of the penal code," he added.
Critics have said Decree 54 has been used to stifle political dissent as the country prepares for a presidential election set for October 6.
Over the past 18 months, more than 60 government critics have been prosecuted under the decree, according to the National Union of Tunisian Journalists.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said on Friday she found it "alarming and distressing to witness the drastic rollback of the human rights progress that Tunisia had made since the 2011 revolution".
"The institution of justice has been brought to heel, while arrests and arbitrary prosecutions are multiplying," she said in a statement after a four-day visit to the country.