Tunis: ‘The proposal to amend Decree-Law No. 54 is likely to be considered before the parliamentary recess that begins in August,’ said Head of the National Sovereign Line parliamentary bloc, MP Youssef Tarchoun.
There is enough time for the parliament to close any loopholes in this decree-law, especially Article 24, before the presidential elections begin,’ he added.
In a statement to TAP news agency on Tuesday, Tarchoun said that “the general climate has changed considerably with regard to Decree-Law No. 54”, adding that amending it had become an urgent necessity “as it threatens general security and has become detrimental to the 25 July process”.
Tarchoun said MPs from all blocs, as well as independents, signed the petition, which was submitted to the parliament’s Bureau last May. They number 57 and demand that the examination of this proposal be accelerated and submitted to the Committee on Rights and Freedoms.
The main objective of the decree law, approved by the Cabinet meeting in 2018, is to ‘defen
d the integrity of individuals. However, Article 24 deviated from this objective because of vague wording that opens the way to interpretation and leads to a disproportion between the crime and the punishment.’
The Sovereign National Line bloc, which initiated the proposal, believes that it is now necessary to amend this decree law, especially as the legal texts relating to the crime of defamation are available (articles of the Penal Code and decrees 115 and 116).
Last February, 40 members of parliament presented an initiative to amend Decree-Law No. 54 on combating offences related to information and communication systems.
The initiative aims to withdraw Article 24 of Decree-Law No. 54 and to amend Articles 9 and 10.
Article 24 provides: Anyone who knowingly uses information and communication systems and networks to produce, distribute, disseminate, transmit or write fake news, false data, rumours, false or forged documents or documents falsely attributed to others, with the aim of violating the rights o
f others or harming public security or national defence or spreading terror among the population, shall be punished by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of fifty thousand dinars.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse