Al Jazeera journalist Samir Sassi arrested in Tunis

Sassi was arrested after a raid on his family’s home on Wednesday night.

Al Jazeera journalist Samir Sassi has been arrested by Tunisian “anti-terrorism” officers at his home in Tunis.

According to Sassi’s wife, a squad of officers raided their home on Wednesday night, going through the family’s possessions and confiscating mobile phones from every member of the family as well as Sassi’s laptop and copies of novels he had written and published locally in Tunisia.

According to Al Jazeera Bureau Director Lotfi Hajji, a team of lawyers spent nearly 12 hours after Sassi’s arrest to try to ascertain where he had been taken.

“They went from one police station to another, one court to another, until finally they were able to find out that he had been taken to the anti-terrorism unit in Ariana,” Hajji said. Ariana is a province just north of the capital Tunis.

Thus far, Hajji added, the government has not provided any information regarding what Sassi might be charged with and it is not expected that there will be any such announcement before 48 hours have passed since his arrest.