ARCHIVES: Tunisia
Online censorship has ben reinforced amid a wave of protests and rioting in Tunisia that began two weeks when a young man set himself on fire outside a police station in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid . “Online social networks have played a key role in transmitting news and information about the situation in Sidi Bouzid and other regions while the government-controlled traditional media have mostly ignored the story,” Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “... MORE
Since the beginning of the Sidi Bouzid riots on December 17, which followed the burning of a new and unemployed graduate, the police have banned any access to the city. Most journalists who tried to cover the incidents have faced police violence, according to Observatoire pour la liberté de presse, d'édition et de création (OLPEC). On the afternoon of December 17, Zouhayr Makhlouf, a correspondent with http:/www./assabilonline.net, was assaulted by the police in front of his home, while his... MORE
A court in Jendouba is expected to rule Wednesday in a criminal case against Mouldi Zouabi, a senior reporter for the online Tunisian news outlet Kalima , according to New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The journalist faces assault charges related to an April 1 episode. Zouabi told CPJ he was assaulted by Khalil Maaroufi, a ruling party member who called the journalist a traitor and seized his driver's licence, press card, and voice recorder. Although the... MORE
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the health of imprisoned Tunisian journalist Fahem Boukadous. It has called upon the Tunisian government to release him immediately. Boukadous, who suffers from acute asthma, started a hunger strike on October 8 to protest the conditions of his detention at Gafsa prison, about 229 miles (369 km) southwest of Tunis. According to his wife, Afef Bennaceur, who visited him on Monday, his health is deteriorating quickly. "He is in... MORE
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has accused the authorities in Tunisia of engaging in a "relentless campaign" of intimidation and harassment of a journalists' leader. IFJ says Zied-el-Heni, a member of the leadership of the Syndicat national des journalistes tunisiens (SNJT) and of the steering committee of the African Federation of Journalistes (FAJ), the IFJ regional group, is the victim of a campaign to undermine independent journalism. "There is no let up in the... MORE
Tunisian journalist Fahem Boukadous has been in extremely poor health since police arrested him on July 15 to begin serving a four-year jail sentence for covering protests in the Gafsa mining region in the spring of 2008 for the international satellite TV station El Hiwar Ettounsi. Boukadous, who suffers from acute asthma attacks and was undergoing medical tests when police arrested him, is being held in a cell in Gafsa prison, in the middle of the desert, where the temperature can rise to 50 C... MORE
Tunisian authorities have in the past few days stepped up their harassment of journalists who dare to criticise the government and defend freedom of expression. Poet and journalist Taoufik Ben Brik has been under house arrest for the past few days, after writing two articles for the French newspaper Nouvel Observateur about Tunisia’s police state. A permanent cordon of plain-clothes police is preventing anyone from visiting his home. Issue No 555 of Al-Maoukef newspaper was seized on July 16,... MORE
The Tunisian government confiscated copies of AlMowqef , the weekly newspaper of the Progressive Democratic opposition party, without giving any justification and without a court order being issued on July 16, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). Members of the Progressive Democratic Party and newspaper readers were surprised to find the paper missing from all distribution outlets, without justification. The Tunisian government as usual did not take the trouble... MORE
Al-Mawkif , an opposition weekly belonging to the Progressive Democratic Party in Tunisia has apparently been censored, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Rachid Khechana, Al-Mawkif editor-in-chief, told CPJ that 10,000 copies of the newspaper’s Friday edition disappeared from newsstands, apparently confiscated by security agents. Although a small number of copies are circulated directly to party members, the paper is available mainly through newsstands... MORE
Tunisian authorities have arrested Fahem Boukadous, a correspondent for the satellite television station Al-Hiwar al-Tunisi. The police arrested Boukadous Thursday at Farhat Hached Hospital in Sousse. The journalist had been discharged Wednesday after being treated for respiratory problems, according to news reports. His wife told the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he was arrested early Thursday morning when he returned to the hospital to get a copy of his medical... MORE
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