Mourad Al‑Zeghidi is a Tunisian political commentator and journalist who has been repeatedly prosecuted under the sweeping framework of Decree‑Law No. 54 on so‐called “false news” and other vaguely defined cyber-crime offences. On 22 May 2024 the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced Al-Zeghidi to one year in prison, comprising six months for “using information and communication networks to produce, disseminate, transmit and prepare false news and rumours with the intent to infringe the rights of others and harm public security” and an additional six months for “using information systems to spread false allegations with the intent of defamation, damaging reputations and causing material or moral harm”. The sentence was reduced to eight months by the Court of Appeal on 30 July 2024. Despite having served this sentence, Al-Zeghidi remained in detention because on 05 June 2025 a judge extended his pre-trial detention for an additional four months in a separate case linked to allegations of money-laundering. The Indictment Chamber of the Tunis Court of Appeal then on 27 August 2025 referred him to the Criminal Chamber of the Tunis Court of First Instance and rejected his request for release, in a case for which no official details of the charges were publicly provided, though press reports indicate financial allegations.