Amnesty International called on Tuesday for the immediate release of journalist Zied El Heni who has been detained since December 28 for 'insulting' a Tunisian government minister on a radio show. "Tunisian authorities persist in their chilling disregard for freedom of expression by punishing yet another person simply for criticising government officials," Amnesty International's Tunisia Research and Advocacy Advisor Fida Hammemi said in an Amnesty International press release issued Tuesday. Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Zied El Heni and drop all charges against him, she added. Amnesty Interantional further indicated that El Heni's detention under Article 24 of Decree Law 54 is "a draconian cybercrime decree-law that grants the authorities wide-ranging powers to crackdown on freedom of expression," adding that the General Prosecutor had charged El-Heni on January 1 under Article 86 of the Telecommunications Code for "using the telecommunications network to insult others ", which is punishable by up to two years of imprisonment and a fine. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse