Freedom of Speech 28

Young Journalists Seize Control of Tunisia’s Press Union

On September 23, journalist Mohamed Yassine Jelassi, a member of Nawaat’s team, was elected president of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) for a three-year term. The association’s new executive committee is composed of nine members, including three women. With remarkable youth participation and a decent amount of female participation, the new committee reflects changes that have marked the sector within a tumultuous socio-political backdrop.

SNJT, a model for export to the Arab world?

“The answer is Tunisia.” That’s what Egyptians say when they talk about a solution to their political crisis and their hopes for democracy at home. It is not only about the possibility of exporting the so-called Tunisian political exception to the Arab region. It also expresses a desire to tap into the dynamism of the professional syndicates, trade unions, and civil society organizations that make up the political landscape in Tunisia and have come to exercise the power of oversight and consultation with the authorities. The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (Syndicat National des Journalistes Tunisiens, or SNJT) is one of these professional syndicates with growing weight and influence.

Interview with Moroccan Prince Moulay Hicham after his expulsion from Tunisia

Researcher at Harvard University and third in the order of succession to the Moroccan throne, Hicham Alaoui was expelled from Tunisia on 8 September 2017, few hours after landing in Tunis. The Boston resident, nicknamed the « red prince », was to speak in an academic symposium on Sunday organized by Stanford University. In spite of our numerous requests, Tunisian authorities have refused to reveal the motives behind their decision. Moulay Hicham, who is known for his critical views on authoritarianism in the Arab world and Morocco in particular, responded to Nawaat’s questions. Interview.

حرية التعبير في تونس: بين النهضة و المحاكم

كتبت سمية الغنوشي، إبنة راشد الغنوشي على صفحتها على الفايسبوك : ” ليعلم هؤلاء و كل الأفاكين من أمثالهم أننا سنتتبعهم قضائيا و نجرهم إلى المحاكم حتى ينتهوا عن ممارسة ألاعيبهم القذرة. ليعلموا أننا قد تعقبنا صحفا أعرق و أكبر منهم في بريطانيا و ألمانيا و إيطاليا كانت تتلقلى أموالا و دعما من المخلوع لتشويه النهضة و قيادتها فأفلس بعضها و اضطر إلى الإغلاق تحت طائلة هذه المحاكمات و القضاء. ليعلم هؤلاء أنهم قد ارتقوا مرتقا صعبا و أن زمن الغاب حيث كانوا يصولون و يجولون دون حسيب أو رقيب قد ولى وانتهى.”

Turkish “democracy”: The two articles that caused the firing of Turkish journalist Ece Temelkuran

[Editor’s Note: Here are two articles written by one of Turkey’s best-known journalists and political commentators Ece Temelkuran in which she criticized the regime’s repressive policy towards journalists and its militaristic policy towards Kurds, a policy that culminated recently in the Uludere massacre that killed over 35 people among them 19 kids. Ece Tumlekuran’s articles were published last week on her former newspaper Habertuk and resulted in her firing from the newspaper under what seemingly was a political pressure from the political establishment.]

Dictatorship, Tunisia’s undeserved fate

At a press conference on May 4, Naji Bghouri, the head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), was prevented by pro-government journalists from finishing comments in which he mentioned of declining press freedoms in Tunisia. The episode showed that the regime of President Zine al-Abedine ben Ali had lost patience even with a body that it had helped establish in January 2008 to cut the grass out from under the feet of the country’s most critical journalists.

Tunisia’s Dubious Honor In Internet Censorship

The nation prohibits access not only to opposition websites and sites run by critical exiles, but also such popular sites as YouTube and Daily Motion as banned due to their hosting of videos documenting prison abuse in Tunisia. Further, the nation’s employs sophisticated blocking devices that allows Tunisians to access, say, the New York Times or the BBC, but bans pages critical of the regime.