TUNISIA: Tunisian journalists go on strike to protest Islamist control

Record ID: 341019

  • Title: TUNISIA: Tunisian journalists go on strike to protest Islamist control
  • Date: 18th October 2012
  • Summary: TUNIS, TUNISIA (OCTOBER 17, 2012) (REUTERS) (*** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) JOURNALISM STUDENTS PROTESTING IN FRONT OF SNJT (THE NATIONAL SYNDICATE OF TUNISIAN JOURNALISTS) AND CHANTING IN ARABIC ''FREE MEDIA, INDEPENDENT PRESS'' VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS PROTESTING OUTSIDE SNJT EXTERIOR OF NATIONAL SYNDICATE OF TUNISIAN JOURNALISTS CLOSE OF SIGN WHICH READS IN ENGLISH AND
  • Embargoed: 2nd November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: Communications,Arts,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEE196FYC4Z62WK6QISHLVURJZ
  • Story Text: Tunisian journalists go on strike, piling pressure on the Islamist government they accuse of restricting freedom of speech after a revolt toppled the country's autocratic leader last year.

    Tunisian journalists went on strike on Wednesday (October 17) and protested in front of the headquarters of the journalist union, the National Syndicate of Tunisian journalists (SNJT) in Tunis to put pressure on the Islamist government they accuse of restricting freedom of speech.
    Tunisia's once-staid media has enjoyed a new lease of life since a revolt toppled the country's autocratic leader, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, last year. But activists say the government, led by the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, is now seeking to impose new controls.
    The strike, which also involved staff at state-run televisions and news agency TAP, was called by the 1,200-member journalists' union and is the first ever staged in Tunisia.
    "The first general strike (by Tunisian media) aims to defend press freedom after we have exhausted the channels of dialogue with the government," the union said in a statement.
    Chair of the National Syndicate of Tunisian journalists Najiba Hamrouni said the move aims to shed light on the importance of the right to free speech.
    "The base of these demands is press freedom and freedom of expression in Tunisia. We defend a high value and a high principle which is press freedom", said Hamrouni.
    Earlier this year journalists demonstrated outside the office of the prime minister to demand an end to restrictions on media freedoms after the appointment of government officials and editors to state television positions.
    The government has repeatedly denied accusations it is seeking to stifle the media.
    Radio channels broadcast programs about the strike, limiting news bulletins to just the headlines.
    Earlier this week, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch accused the government of failing to crack down on Islamist violence against advocates of secularism including journalists and artists.
    "Its very difficult I think for the new government to let journalists work, and it is a threat that you are showing that civil society does not want. Tunisian civil society they want to be free and to be free you need freedom of press, freedom of expression," said Elizabeth Cresto, from the International Federation of Journalists.
    Under Ben Ali, the press in Tunisia was among the most repressed in North Africa.
    Sami Fehri, owner of private television channel Tounissia, was jailed in August on corruption charges. Journalists and government critics say the real motive lies in a satirical show that poked fun at political leaders, including President Moncef Marzouki and Ennahda's leader Rached Ghannouchi and Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali.
    Three reporters at Assabah, Tunisia's oldest newspaper, have been on a hunger strike for almost three weeks to protest the appointment of a new editor they say is close to Ennahda.
    The union accuses the government of appointing officials close to Ennahda at the helm of media organisations in order to control them and curb their independence.
    The prime minister has denied his government wanted to control the media saying that the government had the right to name officials at the helm of state media organisations.
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