Tunisian journalist sentenced to year in prison

09/12/2007

International journalists view Slim Boukhdhir's conviction and sentencing last week as a form of state-sanctioned censorship. The Tunisian Journalists Association declines to take an official position.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 09/12/07

[ajt.org.tn] The Tunisian Journalists Association issued no statement in response to the sentencing, saying instead that "the Boukhdhir case was a public rights one."

A Sfax district court sentenced Tunisian journalist and blogger Slim Boukhdhir, known for his harsh criticism of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, to one year in prison on Tuesday (December 4th). The ruling drew a mixed reaction, with some journalists denouncing the court's decision and others saying they should not become involved in the matter.

Boukhdhir was arrested on November 26th about 140 miles south of Tunis after refusing to produce his identity card. The 39-year-old freelance writer for the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper was convicted of "violating public decency, verbal abuse and insulting a police officer".

Defence lawyers argued that the case against their client was fabricated. One of them, Abed Erraouf Ayadi, said there were many violations in the trial as well as contradictions in witness testimony. According to Ayadi, at the time of his arrest at a Tunis highway security checkpoint, Boukhdhir was being pursued by political police members because of his harsh articles against the authorities.

Ayadi is particularly concerned that "both the filer of the complaint and the person who conducted the investigations in the case, under which Mr. Boukhdhir has been arraigned, are police officers." This, he maintains, "opens the door for all kinds of trespassing due to the lack of neutrality."

The Tunisian Journalists Association (AJT) executive board discussed Boukhdhir's conviction on December 6th. In a statement to Magharebia, board member Hechmi Nouira said, "In principle, we are against the imprisonment of journalists. However, we are also against the principle of 'supporting your brother whether he is right or wrong'. The case of Boukhdhir is one of public rights, and intervening in it would affect the principle of citizens' equality before the law." Another member of the executive board told Magharebia that while "in principle" he opposes the imprisonment of journalists, he agreed with fellow board members that the association should keep out of the Boukhdhir controversy.

"During the Thursday meeting, I asked to at least issue a statement that expresses our concern, because this sentence is a negative indicator—especially as the authorities always pride themselves on the fact that they haven't imprisoned a journalist in 20 years," AJT Management Committee member Neji Bghouri said.

"After extensive discussions," he explained, "the executive board decided not to address the issue based on the fact that the Boukhdhir case was a public rights one in which we may not intervene."

In a December 4th statement, the Tunis-based Observatory for the Freedom of Press (OLPEC), described the case as "a conspiracy to punish Boukhdhir for his articles on corruption published recently in the international press in which he implicated close relatives of Ben Ali".

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) claimed last week that in order to avoid accusations of practicing censorship, Tunisian authorities jail journalists for "motives that are usually not related to their profession". RSF added, "[T]hey don't deceive anyone with such measures."

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) issued a statement on the 20th anniversary of President Ben Ali's ascension to power last month in which it accused the Tunisian government of using "complicated ways to impose censorship on the press" and of "controlling and restricting the media in such a manner [that] dissident voices are marginalized".

President Ben Ali dismissed the idea that the Tunisian press is subject to any "red line" control or censorship. Speaking about press freedom in a November interview with Le Figaro magazine, he said, "I myself wasn't spared [journalists'] criticism."

Boukhdhir's lawyers have ten days to challenge the sentence before the Court of Appeals.