Journalist Mourad Zeghidi’s sentence reduced from 1 year to 8 months; possibility of appeal still pending (statement)

Tunis: The Summer Criminal Division of the Tunis Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the conviction of journalist Mourad Zeghidi, while reducing the corporal punishment from one year to eight months in prison, lawyer Fathi Mouldi told TAP. "We will most likely not appeal the verdict, because after serving half of the sentence, about four months, Zeghidi can enjoy conditional release, especially since he has no criminal record, so we wonder what is the point of bringing this case," Mouldi said. He explained that the decision on whether or not to appeal will be made after discussions with the rest of the defence team and his client's family as well as his client. "We had high hopes of either deciding not to hear the case or settling for the time Zeghidi served, which is approximately 80 days," he explained, adding that his client "was never a confrontational journalist or a political activist but an analyst who offers opinions for discussion." Journalist Mourad Zeghidi, who has been in detention since May 11, on Tuesday appeared before the Criminal Division of the Tunis Court of Appeal to hear appeals against the first instance verdict that had sentenced him to one year in prison for two offences. The first offence relates to the use of a network and information and communication systems to produce, promote, send and prepare false news and rumours with the aim of violating the rights of others or harming public security, while the second relates to the use of information systems and the dissemination of news that includes the attribution of false matters with the aim of defaming, discrediting and harming others materially and morally. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse