Tunisia blogger who 'defamed army' denied bail

A Tunisian military court today denied bail for a blogger being retried for defaming the army, after an initial three-year jail sentence that alarmed rights campaigners.
The court scheduled the next hearing for Yassine Ayari on January 20.
Ayari, 33, was convicted in November for having "defamed army officers and senior defence ministry officials," whom he accused of financial abuse.
He was arrested on December 25 on his return from Paris, and challenged the ruling because he was tried in his absence.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has described his conviction as "not worthy of the new Tunisia".
It urged parliament to reform laws that lead to imprisonment for defaming or insulting state institutions, and to remove jurisdiction of military courts over civilians.

"As long as such laws remain, those in power can't resist the temptation to silence criticism and dissent," said HRW's Eric Goldstein.

In recent months, Ayari had published blogs critical of the Nidaa Tounes party, which won Tunisia's first-post revolution parliamentary elections in October.
His lawyer Sami Ben Amor described the charges as "political".
"It is in the interest of Tunisia's new rulers to send a positive message to the people," he said.
Dozens of supporters held a protest outside the court demanding Ayari's release, shouting: "No to military trials. Tunisia is a civil state".
"The corruption cases which Yassine spoke out about should be reviewed and he should not be jailed. He did not defame the military. He spoke of the corruption of people within it," the blogger's mother, Saida, told AFP.