Zied El-Heni is a Tunisian journalist and editor-in-chief of the independent news website Tunisian Press who has been repeatedly targeted by the authorities for exercising his right to freedom of expression. He was arrested on 24 April 2026 after responding to a summons issued by the Fifth Central Unit for Combating Information and Communication Technology Crime in Tunis and was subsequently transferred to Mornaguia Prison following two days in police custody. The authorities prosecuted him under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code for allegedly causing “harm to others” through social media posts in which he criticised the unjust imprisonment of journalist Khalifa Guesmi and commented on the death of a National Guard officer following detention. According to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, the proceedings were initiated without any formal individual complaint and outside the framework of Tunisia’s Press Freedom Decree-Law No. 115, which should govern cases involving journalistic expression. During his detention, Zied El-Heni launched a hunger strike on 26 April 2026 in protest against what he described as illegitimate judicial proceedings before ending it voluntarily prior to serious health consequences. At his hearing before the Tunis Court of First Instance on 30 April 2026, journalists were reportedly prevented from entering the courtroom and the judge interrupted the defence lawyer before the completion of the pleadings, raising additional concerns regarding due process guarantees. In a letter written from Mornaguia Prison on 06 May 2026, Zied El-Heni stated that he was facing prosecution solely for opinions expressed in the course of his journalistic work and denounced the use of Article 86 against freedom of expression cases, stressing that he had personally participated in the drafting and defence of Decree-Law No. 115 after the 2011 Revolution. He further declared that the case against him originated from verbal instructions rather than a lawful complaint or investigative report and described the proceedings as illegitimate. On 07 May 2026, the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced Zied El-Heni to one year in prison for “offending others through public communication networks”. Tunisian journalists’ organisations and international human rights groups condemned the verdict as part of a broader crackdown on press freedom and dissent under President Kais Saied. The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists criticised the authorities for relying on Article 86, which many rights groups describe as a repressive legal provision inherited from the Ben Ali era and increasingly used against journalists, activists and online commentators. His prosecution took place amid growing national and international concern regarding deteriorating freedom of expression and judicial independence in Tunisia since 2021, including the prosecution of several journalists and public figures for criticism of the authorities.