(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: **For background on the Ben Brik case, see IFEX alerts of 30 September, 12 July, 27 May, 25 May, 20 May, 14 May, 28 April, 29 January and 13 January 1999 and 24 June 1998** TUNISIAN JOURNALIST SPEAKS OUT ON CPJ WEBSITE October 7, 1999 — […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release:
**For background on the Ben Brik case, see IFEX alerts of 30 September, 12
July, 27 May, 25 May, 20 May, 14 May, 28 April, 29 January and 13 January
1999 and 24 June 1998**
TUNISIAN JOURNALIST SPEAKS OUT ON CPJ WEBSITE
October 7, 1999 — The Committee to Protect Journalists has just posted an
English translation of Taoufik Ben Brik’s essay “Human Bars of an Invisible
Prison” (“Les barreaux humains d’une prison invisible”) on its Website.
Over more than a decade in power, Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali
has squeezed the life out of the country’s press, earning himself a spot on
CPJ’s annual list of the ten worst enemies of the press. After years of
harassment and intimidation, most journalists have learned to censor
themselves on sensitive political issues.
Still, a few local journalists continue to defy the authorities. One is
Taoufik Ben Brik, a correspondent for several European newspapers including
the Paris-based daily La Croix. Ben Brik covers human rights issues, and the
government doesn’t like that. Nor do they like his attempts to publicize
repeated police violations of what, in a more democratic society than
Tunisia, would be called his civil rights.
Ben Brik has been assaulted by plainclothes police, who also vandalized his
wife’s car. His travel has been restricted, his phone and fax lines cut.
Throughout this ordeal, Ben Brik has kept writing. In his essay, he tells us
exactly how it feels to bear the full, malevolent weight of the Tunisian
police state’s attention.
For the full text of the essay, visit CPJ’s Website:
http://www.cpj.org/dangerous/TUdaindex.html
