A Tunisian radio journalist and a columnist have been released following long hours of interrogation, over comments on the country’s security forces.

A presenter at Radio Mosaique, Elyes Gharbi, and columnist Haythem El Mekki were interrogated for hours over comments they made on radio, about the country’s influential security forces.

The pair on May 15 discussed shortcomings in police recruitment on Gharbi’s program on the private Mosaique FM radio, in the wake of a deadly mass shooting near a synagogue on Djerba island less than a week prior.

The journalists were summoned to a police station in El Gorjani, Tunis, while dozens of their colleagues and human rights activists staged protests outside.

They were released on Monday, and their case transferred to the Tunis prosecutor’s office.

No specific date has been scheduled for their next court appearance, and no formal charges have been confirmed against them.

El Mekki, who presents a daily show on Radio Mosaique criticising Saied’s policies, this week raised concerns about the country’s methods of recruiting police after a National Guard member killed two visitors and three policemen in a bloody attack on a Jewish synagogue this month.

The government has cracked down on prominent opposition leaders and critics this year, including arresting the head of Radio Mosaique Nourredine Boutar, in moves that have angered Western countries and human rights organizations.

Freedom of speech and media were key gains for Tunisians after the 2011 revolution that ousted autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered the Arab Spring protests.

But activists and journalists say freedom of speech faces a serious threat under Saied’s rule.

“These are dark times. Freedom of speech is increasingly hit. About 20 journalists and bloggers are being pursued because of posts or positions against authorities,” said the country’s journalists’ union chief, Mahdi Jlassi.

Saied shut down parliament in 2021 and seized all powers in moves that his opponents call a coup.