The fraud squad questions the publishing director of an e-magazine over an opinion piece which criticised a Tunisian financial institution.

The police accused Hamza Lakhoua from the French-speaking Espace Manager of “publishing false information” and “damaging the reputation of a financial institution, and that of the country”.

Lakhoua refused to reveal to Index on Censorship the name of the financial institution he criticised “to avoid more problems”. He said: “In my opinion piece I criticised the institution’s management policies”.

Lakhoua explained: “They are accusing me of damaging the reputation of Tunisia, because this institution has major transactions with other international institutions such as the World Bank”.

He also told Index that while interrogating him, the fraud squad did not adhere to the press code, tell him “electronic journalism is still not considered as journalism in Tunisia”.

If convicted Lakhoua could face a fine and a jail term.