Two Tunisian opposition figures start an open hunger strike

25/09/2007

Secretary General of the Progressive Democratic Party Maya Jribi and Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, director of the party's newspaper Al Mawkif have gone on hunger strike to protest what they consider repeated government attacks on the opposition.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 25/09/2007

[Getty Images] Chebbi (left) and Jribi accuse the government of trying to harass their party.

Secretary General of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) Maya Jribi announced Thursday (September 20th) that she was beginning an open hunger strike in protest of a legal challenge from the landlord of the party's office. Jribi believes the government put the landlord up to the task because she leads an opposition party. Ahmed Néjib Chebbi, party founder and director of the PDP's newspaper Al Mawkif, joined Jribi in her strike.

A number of secretaries general of opposition parties, the president of the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, and the secretary general of the Democratic Women Movement showed their support for the PDP by attending the press conference during which the hunger strike was announced. Jribi said that because of the "destruction of the last square of the freedom of expression and political activity in [Tunisia]", she would maintain her hunger strike "until the authorities stop their constant harassment of the party and their obstruction of its activities".

The PDP received a subpoena from a Tunisian court after the landlord of the party's premises filed a complaint claiming that he was surprised by the use of the premises as a political party's offices because the lease contract states that the premises are to be used as offices for a press establishment.

Jribi insisted that the legal action was incited by the authorities. "The government's resorting to these twisted methods to besiege the dissenting opinion, opposition party activities and independent civil society organisations is not a new thing," she said. "The Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights has been faced with more than one legal action in the past filed by alleged pro-government members. Moreover, the offices of Al Mawkif newspaper have been used for 23 years as headquarters for the activity of the PDP even before the party received legal recognition in 1988."

Chebbi said that faced with the current situation, "we didn't see any other solution. We decided to stage a political protest through a hunger strike because the decision is political rather than judicial as they say."

"Contrary to the feeble allegations, the dispute related to the headquarters of the newspaper is a civil and real estate dispute between a landlord and a tenant. Courts alone are competent to examine such disputes," Reuters cited an official source close to the government as saying. The source continued that "the attempt to designate this dispute as a political dispute is an irresponsible behaviour."

"I believe that there are other factors behind this announced hunger strike," Tunisian journalist Borhane Bsaies told Magharebia, adding that the strike "might be an attempt to bypass internal conflicts in the party, which were caused by the growth of a current inside the party that rejects the hegemony … of Chebbi". Rachid Khechana, member of PDP Political Office, denied Baysa's allegations. Speaking to Magharebia, Khechana said they were "mere lies that are not supported by facts".

At the party's most recent conference, Chebbi relinquished the secretary general position to Jribi.