TUNIS —
Tunisia’s journalists union on Wednesday accused authorities of seeking to
“silence” the media after a radio correspondent was detained for refusing to
reveal his sources.
اضافة اعلان
Khalifa Guesmi, a correspondent for the
country’s leading radio station Mosaique FM was arrested on March 18, in the
central region of Kairouan under anti-terrorism laws after an article was
published on the channel’s website on the break-up of a “terrorist cell”.
The article, which was taken down at the
request of the authorities, reported that a former soldier and a university
professor had been members of the cell.
Two other Mosaique FM journalists including
Editor-in-chief Houcine Dabbabi have also been summoned for questioning by an
anti-terror judge over the same case.
Guesmi’s arrest is “an attack on press
freedom ... and journalists’ right to access information,” said Mahdi Jlassi,
head of the country’s SNJT journalists’ union.
He called it “the gravest” attack on freedom
of the press since the North African country’s 2011 revolution and especially
since last July when President Kais Saied suspended parliament and seized an
array of powers.
It “reflects a policy of using state
institutions to silence and intimidate journalists,” Jlassi said at a news
conference.
He also said it was an attack on journalists’
right to protect their sources, which is guaranteed under Tunisian law, and
dismissed official promises to preserve freedom of the press as “lies”.
Saied, who after his power grab moved to rule
by decree and seized control of the judiciary, has repeatedly vowed to protect
freedoms won during the 2011 revolution, which overthrew longtime dictator Zine
El Abidine Ben Ali.
The
International Federation of Journalists said Tuesday that Tunisia should “immediately release” Guesmi.
“President Saied has a duty to defend freedom
of the press and ensure the security of our colleagues as they do their work,”
said IFJ president Anthony Bellanger.
“We cannot tolerate journalists continually being
targeted.”
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