Tunis — The Court of Cassation, on Wednesday, overturned the appeal verdict against journalist Khelifa Guesmi under which he was handed a 5-year prison sentence for publishing security information.

The court decided to send the case back to the Court of Appeal for consideration by different panel, Defence lawyer Ayoub Ghedamsi told TAP.

In November 2022, the Court of First Instance handed journalist at "Mosaique FM" Radio Khelifa Guesmi a one year prison sentence under the counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering law.

He was sentenced for publishing security information regarding the dismantling of a terrorist cell in Kairouan governorate.

Guesmi had initially refused to disclose the source of the information provided to him. The Tunis Court of Appeal then ruled to extend the sentence to five years in prison.

The police officer who provided the information to Khelifa Guesmi was handed a 10-year sentence, after initially being sentenced to three years in the First Instance stage.