(OLPEC/IFEX) – The following is a 2 November 2006 OLPEC press release: Tunisia: After suspending diplomatic relations with Qatar, a campaign against Al Jazeera seeks to shatter freedom of expression The Observatory for Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation in Tunisia protests against the defamation campaign against Al Jazeera led by the Tunisian authorities and […]
(OLPEC/IFEX) – The following is a 2 November 2006 OLPEC press release:
Tunisia: After suspending diplomatic relations with Qatar, a campaign against Al Jazeera seeks to shatter freedom of expression
The Observatory for Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation in Tunisia protests against the defamation campaign against Al Jazeera led by the Tunisian authorities and collaborating newspapers, and demands the practices be ended.
The Tunisian authorities have accused Arabic-language news network Al Jazeera of “conducting a hostile campaign intended to harm Tunisia” and of “opening the doors to insurrection and revolt,” in a report issued by the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 25 October 2006. The Tunisian government has decided to suspend diplomatic relations with Qatar, shutting down their embassy in the capital and holding the Qatari government responsible for the activities of the media on its territory.
The announcement came in reaction to an interview with Dr. Moncef Al Marzouki, [one of Tunisia’s leading human rights activists] which aired on Al Jazeera on 14 October 2006. The content of the interview was considered by authorities to be “a threat to the nation’s security and stability [. . .] instigating insurrection and civil disobedience,” according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the interview, Marzouki criticized the government’s repression of freedoms, calling for peaceful protest. The Tunisian authorities have launched a legal action against Marzouki, charging him with “inciting citizens to breach the laws of the nation.”
Meanwhile, some state newspapers, including Al Hadath, Al Shouroq, Al Sabah, and Le Temps, published articles defaming Al Jazeera and accusing it of being controlled by “a dark universal extremist organization,” a reference to Al Jazeera journalist Tayseer Elouni, who is imprisoned in Spain on charges of affiliating with terrorist networks. The papers also referred to the news network as “a swamp of hatred and incitement.”
OLPEC:
– Considers Al Jazeera a pioneer in the field of global media, reversing the flow of information from the West to the East, and putting an end to Arab governments’ monopoly over audiovisual media; Al Jazeera has revolutionized the structure of Arabic media by opening its space to the Arab commons and opposition voices, a vision that contradicts the policies of the ruling regimes, which see media as a propaganda tool useful only to consolidate their own power;
– Strongly condemns the campaign against Al Jazeera and its journalists and denounces the involvement of the Tunisian newspapers in such a campaign;
– Declares its full support for Al Jazeera’s editorial staff;
– Considers this campaign a violation of freedom of expression by criminalizing Al Jazeera through false allegations;
– Demands an end to the legal attacks against Dr. Moncef Marzouki.
Sihem Bensedrine
Secretary-general,
OLPEC
