Imprisoned in Tunisia, former Canal+ Africa journalist Mourad Zeghidi is on trial for his appeal this Tuesday.

Mourad Zeghidi, the former Canal+ football journalist, faces three and a half years in prison for money laundering and tax evasion. But it was his remarks on a political program that landed him in prison in May 2024.

This Tuesday, Mourad Zeghidi, a 53-year-old Franco-Tunisian journalist, will appear before the Tunis Court of Appeal, where he faces a potential three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for money laundering and tax evasion. However, it was not for this offense that the former Canal+ journalist was arrested in May 2024, the day after a radio program discussing political topics.

His remarks were met with considerable disapproval in a country where the government is becoming increasingly radicalized on freedom of expression. After leaving Canal+, where he notably covered Italian football, Zeghidi returned to his native Italy to continue his media work. He was arrested along with two other guests from the talk show, including a lawyer, and subsequently detained for comments deemed "damaging" to the country's image.

Although he was due to be released in January 2025 after serving eight months of his sentence, an arrest warrant was issued against him for money laundering and tax evasion. Placed under the anti-terrorism law, all his requests for release were denied before he was sentenced on January 26th to three and a half years in prison. "But it's an empty case," all the lawyers say, explains Yesmine, his 24-year-old eldest daughter. "It's something that was added to the initial conviction. He was supposed to be released in January 2025, but before his release, they're giving him all this."

A brutal shock for Zeghidi and his family. For months, his two daughters have been taking turns visiting him. Inès, the younger one, was forced to take a gap year from her master's program to move to Tunis. "I was starting a work-study program, so it wasn't possible," Yesmine continues. "For us, it's incredibly difficult. Visits are only 15 minutes. There are four of us going, including my father's sister and his aunt. We also have to cook for him three times a week. The logistics are huge because we have to prepare a large quantity." Food that he shares with his three fellow inmates.

“We are struggling to see the end, to understand this relentless pursuit,” said Yesmine Zeghidi, Mourad Zeghidi’s eldest daughter.

While he took the first conviction with a certain detachment, that's not the case today. "For the first eight months, we found it long, him most of all, but we all thought he'd be released afterward," Yesmine continues. "He was a fighter. Now, we tell ourselves that we're not going to get through this easily. In pretrial detention, my father wanted to believe he would prove his innocence. But three and a half more years, and everything collapses... So there have been ups and downs since then. We're struggling to see the end, to understand this relentless pursuit. We can understand the initial message: if you criticize certain things in the country, you will be punished. But now, he needs to be let go... Among the two commentators, one of his colleagues, a lawyer, who had already been released, has just been sentenced again to a year and a half in prison in another trial. The first time, she was accused of defending migrants on the show."

Mourad Zeghidi and his family now hope - if the trial is not postponed, which sometimes happens in these cases - for the end of their nightmare.