Semi-positivity from Higgs bundles

We prove a generalization of the Fujita-Kawamata-Zuo semi-positivity Theorem for filtered regular meromorphic Higgs bundles and tame harmonic bundles. Our approach gives a new proof in the cases already considered by these authors. We give also an application to the geometry of smooth quasi-projective complex varieties admitting a semisimple complex local system with infinite monodromy.