(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the case to be dropped against “Om Zied” (real name: Neziha Rejiba), editor-in-chief of the online magazine “Kalima”, whose appeal trial is scheduled to open on 31 December 2003. Om Zied was given an eight-month suspended jail sentence and fined 1,200 dinars (approximately US$1,000; 800 euros) on 18 November […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the case to be dropped against “Om Zied” (real name: Neziha Rejiba), editor-in-chief of the online magazine “Kalima”, whose appeal trial is scheduled to open on 31 December 2003.
Om Zied was given an eight-month suspended jail sentence and fined 1,200 dinars (approximately US$1,000; 800 euros) on 18 November for “illegal possession of foreign currency and transferring it to an unauthorised person.”
“President Ben Ali gives the appearance of being a democrat and has realised that he is ill-advised to arrest, let alone actually imprison, journalists. The authorities now rely on a whole range of measures not directly connected to freedom of expression to silence those who dare to challenge their master’s voice,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. “The Om Zied trial is a case in point, with a trumped up charge, as has been demonstrated by a lawyers’ collective, an outrageously severe sentence and an absurd choice of the date for the appeal, 31 December, to ensure that it gets lost amid New Year’s Eve celebrations! We call on the Tunisian courts to dismiss the case.”
On 25 September, Om Zied was summoned under her official name, Neziha Rejiba, by the authorities in charge of customs investigations for exchange offences and was accused of giving a young Tunisian 170 euros (approx. US$210). However, Om Zied committed no offence since the law allows a traveller one week to exchange currency after a journey abroad.
At the end of her trial on 19 November, her lawyers at first announced that she had been acquitted, but a suspended prison sentence and a fine were recorded by the court clerk’s office. Some 15 lawyers defended the journalist at the trial, which they denounced as “a political gimmick intended to tarnish [their] client because of her political activities and courageous writings.” The lawyers demonstrated that the accusations against her were unfounded and that the charges were politically motivated.
Om Zied, a human rights activist, is editor-in-chief of the online magazine “Kalima” (www.kalima.com), which has been banned in Tunisia since it began appearing in October 2000. The website, which is hosted abroad, is still unavailable in Tunisia, though “Kalima” has succeeded in secretly distributing a printed version.
For the past two years Om Zied has suffered relentless persecution because of her writings on the Internet and her opinions broadcast on satellite stations, where she speaks out against the president’s personality cult.
