Tunisian journalists to strike against attempts to control media

TUNIS, Tunisia

Tunisian journalists plan to stage a strike on April 2 to protest attempts by President Kais Saied to control the media, the country’s press union said Wednesday.

Tunisia "has become an authoritarian state that jails and intimidates journalists,” Mohamed Yassine Jelassi, the head of the Tunisian Journalists Union, told Anadolu Agency.

“Since July 25, the people are imprisoned for their thoughts and tweets and are tried militarily,” he added.

Jelassi accused the Tunisian authorities “of seeking to frighten journalists and disrupt them from doing their job.”

Last week, Tunisian journalist Khalifa al-Qasimi was arrested under the country’s terrorism law on charges of sharing news on dismantling a terrorist cell in the central city of Kairouan.

Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis since Saied dismissed the government, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority, in a move decried by opponents as a “military coup”.

Tunisia has been seen as the only country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among Arab countries which witnessed popular revolutions toppling ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar