A Tunisian appeals court on Saturday upheld a six-month prison sentence against journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, one of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali’s toughest critics. The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the decision as part of a politically motivated effort to silence Ben Brik.

In other news, Mouldi Zouabi, a reporter with Radio Kalima, was arbitrarily arrested on 28 January 2010 and detained for more than eight hours. Zouabi believes the incident was clearly aimed to prevent him from carrying out a scheduled interview with Mohamed Bouebdelli, the recently suspended former director of the Free University of Tunis who had to catch a flight that day but also “it is a clear message addressed to me with the idea of dissuading me from continuing my work with Radio Kalima,” he said.