SCREWS TIGHTEN ON PRIVATE TUNISIAN TV STATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000024 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG (WILLIAMS, NARDI, PATTERSON); NEA/PPD (DOUGLAS, AGNEW, JAZYNKA),DRL (JOHNSTONE, KLARMAN); LONDON FOR RMH (SREEBNY); DUBAI FOR RMH (PELLETIER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2019 TAGS: TS KPAO ECPS PGOV PREL PHUM PREF SUBJECT: SCREWS TIGHTEN ON PRIVATE TUNISIAN TV STATION REF: A. TUNIS 1199 ¶B. TUNIS 795 Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: At a December 17 dinner with the Ambassador and again at at January 9 private meeting, the director general of Tunisia's first and only private broadcast and satellite TV station detailed ongoing government interference and a surprise tax judgement against the station of almost US $1.5 million. End summary. ¶2. (C) On December 17, the Ambassador, had dinner with Hannibal TV Director General (and owner) Mohamed Larbi Nasra (protect) and his son Mohamed Habib Nasra (protect),an attorney also working with Hannibal TV. Soon after the dinner at the restaurant began, three Tunisians, plainclothes security by their appearance, were seated at an adjacent table. Despite his evident discomfort, Nasra (the father) described the latest developments in the continuing saga of harassment of Hannibal TV by the Tunisian authorities including Minister of Communications Rafaa Dekhil (reftels). ¶3. (C) In a telling example, Nasra had previously told the Ambassador that he was not permitted to broadcast a program documenting the Embassy's November 2008 U.S. Election Night event. The Minister, furious at Nasra's "indiscretion," demanded a letter from Nasra stating that Hannibal TV had decided not to broadcast the program of the station's own accord, despite the fact that it was the Minister himself who had banned the program. Under heavy pressure, Nasra agreed to provide the letter, which went through many drafts until the Minister himself simply provided the text he wanted Nasra to use. ¶4. (C) Nasra and his son also claimed that the Tunisian National Statistics Institute and, to a lesser extent, private media survey firms were deliberately biased in their reporting, failing to show how much more popular Hannibal TV has become compared to state-run Tunis 7 TV. They provided a copy of a survey commissioned by Hannibal TV that, they claimed, gave a clearer picture. Anecdotal evidence seems to support Hannibal TV claims of greater market share. Any potential interference with audience penetration and market share numbers has clear implications for the station's advertising revenue. ¶5. (C) In a January 9 follow-up meeting with the Ambassador, Nasra described further interference and detailed a new problem--a tax judgment against the station of almost US $1.5 million. The station must reply within 30 days or face legal action, including possible seizure of the station's assets. According to Nasra, the tax levy and other actions, such as the failure of the national health insurance to pay benefits for some of his employees, are all aimed at driving him out of the TV business so the members of Tunisia's "first family" can take over the station. In another telling example, Nasra describe an angry call from Dekhil following the broadcast of a program on Gaza which included some frank debate and some criticism of Hamas as well as condemnation of the Israelis. Dekhil was furious that Nasra would allow such comments to go out over the airwaves. ¶6. (C) Nasra, once close to Ben Ali but apparently out of favor today, described the Tunisian President as "totally passive" while First Lady Leila Ben Ali and the Ben Ali and Trabelsi families, including rising political star Mohamed Sakr El Matri, hold the real power behind the scenes. The level of corruption means that inner circle expects all others to act "like slaves" with grave consequences, from tax audits to beatings to arrest and conviction on trumped-up charges for those that step out of line. ¶7. (C) Comment: There is occasionally some progress toward greater openness in the Tunisian media, such as a recent editorial calling for faster movement on human rights and interviews with genuine opposition figures such as PDP Secretary General Maya Jribi. This progress is overshadowed, however, by actions such as the continued GOT pressure on Hannibal TV. Such heavy-handed interference with the private TV station makes it clear that the GOT has no intention at the moment of permitting full freedom of expression or surrendering control of the local media, particularly the broadcast media that matter most. End comment. Godec