5/10/2017
Tunisia: Spate of Prosecutions for Free Speech | Human Rights Watch
Tunis Tribunal. Al-Jiss told Human Rights Watch that
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the complaint was
filed in the name of President Moncef
Marzouki and referred to a radio program that al-Jiss
had moderated on March 9. He told Human Rights
Watch:
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In the course of this radio program, I interviewed
by telephone Salem Zahran, a Lebanese journalist,
who alleged that the Tunisian president of the
republic received 50,000 Euros from Al Jazeera. I
told Zahran that these allegations are very serious
and that he should have evidence of this before
making them. He replied that he does have proof
of these allegations and that he is ready to provide
them before the judiciary if the presidency of the
republic files a complaint against him.
Like Zarrouk, al-Jiss was charged with violating penal
code articles 128, 245, and press code article 54, together
with Zahran and the director of Express FM.
Al-Heni received a summons to appear as an accused
before the investigative judge of the 10th Bureau of the
Tunis Tribunal. The summons was based on al-Heni’s
criticism of the authorities in the case of Mourad
Mehrezi, a cameraman who was arrested after filming an
incident in which a protester threw an egg at the culture
minister.The public prosecutor charged Mehrezi on
August 23, on charges including conspiracy to assault a
public servant and harming public morals. Al-Heni told
Human Rights Watch:
During an interview on Nessma TV on August 28, I
referred to the press release issued by the public
prosecution office the day they decided to issue a
detention order against Mehrezi, in which they say
https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/13/tunisia-spate-prosecutions-free-speech
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