Tunisia: Journalists and students arrested
Since President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's election victory on October 25, Tunisian authorities have arrested or mistreated several opposition journalists and students. Human rights organizations fear that the crackdown is part of the measures announced by Ben Ali against critics of the election process.
Taoufik Ben Brik, correspondent for the French weekly newspaper Nouvel Observateur, was arrested last Thursday. According to Brik's lawyers, the well-known opposition journalist is facing several years in prison. In the articles, Ben Brik had criticized the elections in which Ben Ali was confirmed for his fifth mandate since 1987 with around 90 percent of the vote.
The Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Human Rights (REMDH) called on the embassies of EU countries in Tunisia to visit Ben Brik and Zuhair Makhlouf, another journalist in detention, and observe their trials. Makhlouf was arrested on October 21 and is due to stand trial on Tuesday. He is accused of filming in a poor neighborhood without permission.
Journalist Slim Boukhedir, on the other hand, had criticized President Ben Ali's wife in an interview with the British broadcaster BBC. Last Wednesday, he was abducted by unknown persons, presumably police officers in civilian clothes, in front of his house and driven up a hill. There he was beaten up and left with a broken nose. His clothes and wallet were taken from him.
The student Mohamed Soudani disappeared without a trace on October 22. He had been interviewed by two French journalists in a hotel in Tunis, said his lawyer Radhia Nasraoui. When he left the hotel, around a dozen police officers were waiting for him. He had been able to leave a message on her voicemail, but since then there had been no sign of him. Ten other students who had taken part in a sit-in for more accommodation were also arrested at the weekend.
The Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Human Rights (REMDH) called on the embassies of EU countries in Tunisia to visit Ben Brik and Zuhair Makhlouf, another journalist in detention, and observe their trials. Makhlouf was arrested on October 21 and is due to stand trial on Tuesday. He is accused of filming in a poor neighborhood without permission.
Journalist Slim Boukhedir, on the other hand, had criticized President Ben Ali's wife in an interview with the British broadcaster BBC. Last Wednesday, he was abducted by unknown persons, presumably police officers in civilian clothes, in front of his house and driven up a hill. There he was beaten up and left with a broken nose. His clothes and wallet were taken from him.
The student Mohamed Soudani disappeared without a trace on October 22. He had been interviewed by two French journalists in a hotel in Tunis, said his lawyer Radhia Nasraoui. When he left the hotel, around a dozen police officers were waiting for him. He had been able to leave a message on her voicemail, but since then there had been no sign of him. Ten other students who had taken part in a sit-in for more accommodation were also arrested at the weekend.
