If there is a profession in Tunisia that has become truly oppressive against its people, it is definitely the profession of journalism, and if there is anyone in this profession who is classified as being in great suffering, it is undoubtedly those who gather a small number of voices critical of the various official policies.
A few days ago, a press conference was held at National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists headquarters, in which the head of the Syndicate, Zied Dabbar, held the Ministry of Justice and the General Administration of Prisons responsible for the health of the imprisoned journalist, Mohamed Bouglab, who suffers from serious chronic diseases that have become life-threatening. He has reached an advanced stage of diabetes, in addition to other organic and bacterial diseases that he contracted in prison that have become life-threatening.
A member of the defence team asked the head of state, as a law professor, to review Bouglab’s file, “to examine for himself the magnitude of legal violations that the file and to put an end to them, because it is not befitting of Tunisia for a journalist to die in prison”.
READ: Algeria announces ‘imminent’ summit with Libya and Tunisia
The story does not stop there, as behind bars are a number of journalists, namely Murad Zeghidi, Burhan Bessis, Shatha Al-Hajj Mubarak and Sonia Dahmani, who is actually a lawyer but has devoted herself to political commentary on private radio and television stations, in addition to journalist Ziad Al-Hani, who was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, and Noureddine Boutar, director of the private radio station, Mosaique, who was released on bail pending a decision on his case. This is in addition to others in the field of digital media who are being pursued by cases that are still ongoing in one way or another. These prisoners were referred to by the head of the Journalists’ Syndicate as prisoners of conscience who were tried under Decree 54, which the Journalists’ Syndicate is demanding be abolished because it “poses a threat to freedom of expression, in general, not just to the work of journalists”, especially since some of the imprisoned journalists were tried retroactively, i.e., for acts they “committed” before this decree was issued.
These prisoners, those being pursued and others were truly the “salt” to the country’s media scene and gave a different “taste” to the official media discourse that is fond of populist slogans and conspiratorial interpretations of everything. Those who were not thrown in prison or pursued chose to withdraw quietly because they believed that there was no longer any opportunity for them to do their work without pressure, harassment or blackmail, while others remained steadfast despite everything and insisted, with admirable courage, on swimming against the current, but for how long? No one has the answer to this.
The atmosphere of increasing intimidation was also evident in the number of microphones placed on the table during the press conference I mentioned, as there were only four, all of which belonged to foreign media outlets. Neither the radio nor the television stations that Bouglab worked with for years and was its most prominent star, with fans and haters, attended the conference to report on his suffering, reflecting the degree of fear amongst journalists and society, in general.
This is a large number of journalists behind bars, and other activists are imprisoned because of posts or opinions they expressed on social media. News of the arrest and imprisonment of many was not heard, even though the imprisonment of just one journalist during the rule of the late President Ben Ali was considered a major event that caused an internal and external uproar. Journalist Tawfiq Ben Brik said that Ben Ali would personally order the room in which he would be placed in prison be painted at a time when all current prisoners complain of extremely poor living conditions.
While we witness this decline in the scope of freedom of expression, in general, and freedom of the press, in particular, for every self-respecting journalist who respects their profession, we find that the opposite arena that supports the authority, and the President, in particular, is full of several intruders to the profession who are never held accountable for their violations against many. On television, which has officially returned to being completely state-run, a journalist duo, a woman and man, have been appointed as the only permanent commentators on television to justify anything and praise everything, at a time when political talk shows have disappeared on Tunisian television and others. Only a very limited number remain on some private radio stations, with nothing guaranteeing them remaining long-term.
This television, which has gone back to being a propaganda mouthpiece, and we are once again seeing trivial reports (recently, there was an exaggerated celebration of the restoration of a municipal swimming pool in the capital, as if it were an extraordinary national achievement) as well as arranged interviews with carefully selected guests and questions asked that beg praise. This is a situation that journalists thought had gone forever after the 2011 revolution.
The same can be said for the written press, which has fallen back to its old ways, with only a very few journalists remaining who continue to struggle and fight. One of the daily newspapers that had been addicted for decades, and throughout all eras, to the crude and disgraceful praise of the authority, regardless of who it was, continues to publish a very revolting type of article, on full pages and with large headlines, which miraculously combine delusion, stupidity, hypocrisy and making fools of people. This occurs at a time when a serious and respected weekly newspaper, Acharaa Al-Magharibi, was forced to stop publishing.
READ: Marzouki calls for restoring revolution’s path in Tunisia
This article was first published in Arabic in Al Quds on 29 October, 2024.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.