Taking legal action against Tunisian cartoonist Taoufik Omran would be "unjustified and unfounded" if it were about a caricature he made, the Prime Ministry said In a statement issued, on Friday evening.

The Prime Ministry underlined that freedom of artistic creativity is guaranteed in Article 49 of the Tunisian Constitution of July 25, 2022.

It added that if such proceedings were made because of other facts or acts committed by cartoonist Taoufik Omran, it would, thus, be a question of "a purely judicial matter."

According to the same source, «the Prime Minister did not know about of the legal proceedings against Omran», adding that «he did not see the caricature and did not even know who its author was.»

On the contrary, «the PM learnt about the proceedings through the media.»

On Thursday evening, the public prosecution's office ordered the arrest of cartoonist Taoufik Omran. He was then taken to the police station without notice or summons where he was questioned about his caricatures before being released at dawn on Friday.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse