Tunisia: Union rejects move to silence journalist’s election coverage
Tunisian society continues to hit back at the Saied government’s thirst for authoritarianism, with the most recent display of discontent coming from the North African country’s press.
On August 22nd, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) rejected the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) to rescind the accreditation of Khawla Boukrim, a journalist covering the presidential elections, reported Anadolu and agencies.
The union has threatened to ramp up protests in response to the authority’s decision against Boukrim, the editor-in-chief of local news website Tomedia.
The ISIE justified withdrawing accreditation from the journalist based on failure to ensure objective, balanced and impartial media coverage of the election. Boukrim was also charged with not complying with the code of conduct or electoral law and a breach of professional ethics.
READ: Tunisia: Former presidential hopeful put in pre-trial remand
The SNJT strongly condemned the decision, which it labelled “arbitrary” and an attempt to silence critical coverage of the ISIE and the electoral process. The journalists’ union accused the elections authority of committing a series of grave errors since the start of the electoral process. The union argued that decisions by the ISIE were illegitimate due to the authority’s lack of expertise in assessing media coverage based on professional ethics.
The union has demanded the reversal of what it calls an “illegal and incomprehensible” decision against Boukrim. The SNJT has called for all journalists and media outlets to protest outside the ISIE’s headquarters next week in a show of solidarity, adding that demonstrations are expected to escalate.
Human Rights Watch has urged Kaies Saied’s government to stop what it considers “political interference” in the elections set for October 6th.
The runup to the Tunisian presidential election has been stoked in controversy in what many citizens and independent organisations see as an unfair election, but what the electoral authorities have said meets conditions of integrity, transparency and fair competition.
READ: Hafed Al-Ghwell: How would a 2nd term for Saied look in Tunisia?
Only three candidates, including incumbent President Kais Saied, have been accepted to appear on the ballot after 14 other candidates saw their applications rejected.
The National Salvation Front, the largest opposition coalition, stated that it would not participate in the elections due to the conditions of competition being absent.
In other news, Safi Said was released by a Tunisian court on August 22nd. Said, a former presidential hopeful and government critic, was placed in pre-trial detention for allegedly crossing the border with Algeria “illegally”.
Saied, who began his presidency in 2019, has employed multiple constitutional reforms that have built up his power over Tunisia. Many critics have labelled the move a “coup” against the achievements of the 2011 revolution. Saied has, however, argued that such measures were necessary within the framework of the constitution to protect the state from “immediate danger.”
Anadolu / Middle East Monitor and agencies
