Mouhamed Ali Ltifi, a journalist for Al-Oula, a new weekly newspaper, was assaulted and arrested by police officers on 18 January while he was taking the Tunis metro. According to a report on the newspaper’s official Facebook page, two of his colleagues witnessed the arrest.

Ltifi, who was released a few hours after his arrest, had been verbally and physically abused. Moez Zayoud, editor-in-chief of Al-Oula, told Index on Censorship in a phone call that Ltifi was “humiliated”.

“We have been harassed more than once”’, he said. “It’s not just us, but all independent and investigative media outlets face pressure.”

Zayoud said: “In the last weeks, pressure has increased over our newspaper.” In its 35th issue last week, Al-Oula published an investigation that accused the general director of the Tunisian Television institution of receiving huge amounts of money above his salary.

On 10 January, Al-Oula received a letter sent by the lawyer representing the general director warning the newspaper not to publish any personal details about his client.