Libya: RSF calls for the immediate release of journalist Salhine Zerouali, on trial in Military Court
Accused of collaborating with media outlets deemed hostile by the authorities, journalist Salhine Zerouali has been detained since May 2024. After his hearing was postponed several times, he appeared before a military court in Benghazi for the first time on 13 March 2025. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for his immediate release and an end to this opaque, unjust trial.
Salhine Zerouali has been in detention for over ten months. The journalist, who works with several media outlets, including the Al Ghaïma news agency in Ajdabiya, a city in eastern Libya, faces a military court trial with no set schedule that is taking place in complete opacity. His lawyers have only limited access to the case file. Zerouali appeared for the first time before the military court in Benghazi, the capital, on 13 March 2025. Although several charges — such as possession of weapons and membership in terrorist groups — have been dropped by the military prosecutor, the journalist is still being prosecuted for reporting for outlets considered hostile by the authorities.
“Bringing journalists before military courts in Libya violates the country’s international commitments and deprives them of the right to a fair trial. The authorities must protect journalists’ rights and, through this, the public’s right to reliable information. We call on them to end this unjust proceeding and immediately release Salhine Zerouali — a decision that would send a positive signal to the country’s journalists, who currently work in a climate of fear.
Salhine Zerouali was violently arrested on 15 May 2024. He was intercepted in Ajdabiya, a city in eastern Libya, while in his car with his nine-year-old son by a civilian vehicle belonging to security forces. Masked men physically assaulted him in front of his child before taking him to a detention center in Ajdabiya. A few days later, he was transferred to Benghazi, where he is currently being held in a military prison.
Family members told RSF they are concerned that Zerouali is being judged without the guarantee of a fair trial before the military court in Benghazi. They also noted that the initial charges were dropped “because he was simply doing his job as a journalist and had no intention of harming anyone.” To them, “his two arrests in 2019 due to his opinions reflect a recurring pattern of him being targeted.”
In 2020, journalists Abdel Salam Al-Turki and Ismaïl Abou Zriba El-Zouei were also brought before the same court, victims of judicial proceedings due to their collaboration with outlets that the authorities felt opposed their power.
The Benghazi military court proceedings against Salhine Zerouali comes amid a particularly tense — and, at times, violent — environment for journalists and outlets in Libya. In February 2025, RSF highlighted the persistence of the heavy repression targeting media professionals, with numerous cases of harassment, arbitrary detention, and threats.
Libya ranks 143rd out of 180 countries in the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
