A Tunisian court has sentenced independent journalist Zied el-Heni to four years in prison on terrorism-related charges, adding to the legal penalties facing the outspoken critic of President Kais Saied.

The ruling was delivered on Tuesday in a case linked to leaked audio recordings attributed to Mondher Ounissi, a former interim leader of the Ennahdha opposition movement, according to el-Heni’s lawyer, Yasmine Ben Brahim.

The charges included forming a terrorist group and failing to report an alleged terrorist crime. El-Heni had previously reported on the recordings, which became the subject of investigations by Tunisian authorities.

Ounissi was also sentenced to nine years in prison in the same case, Ben Brahim said. Details of the contents of the leaked recordings were not immediately clear.

El-Heni was initially questioned as a witness after reporting on the recordings but was subsequently charged in connection with the case.

The journalist’s prosecution has drawn criticism from press freedom organisations, which argue that the proceedings threaten journalists’ ability to verify information and protect confidential sources.

The Committee to Protect Journalists previously called for the charges against el-Heni to be dropped, saying his involvement in the recordings was related to journalistic verification. Reporters Without Borders also warned that the case could undermine the protection of journalistic sources.

The latest sentence follows a separate conviction in May, when el-Heni received a one-year prison term over remarks concerning press freedom in Tunisia. He has been a vocal critic of President Saied and the authorities’ treatment of independent media.

Since Saied consolidated presidential powers in 2021, members of the Ennahdha movement and other government critics have faced arrests, prosecutions and imprisonment. Ennahdha is an opposition movement with Islamist roots.

The movement’s 85-year-old leader, Rached Ghannouchi, has been in prison since 2023 over charges including plotting against the state.

The four-year sentence against el-Heni adds to concerns about the use of terrorism-related laws in cases involving journalists and political critics.

Press freedom advocates have urged Tunisian authorities to end prosecutions arising from legitimate journalistic work, while the case has renewed scrutiny of the country’s legal environment for independent reporting.