TUNISIA: JOURNALIST TRIED, INDEPENDENT PAPERS PUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000855

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2019
TAGS: PHUM PGOV TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIA: JOURNALIST TRIED, INDEPENDENT PAPERS PUT
"UNDER SIEGE"

REF: A. TUNIS 849

B. TUNIS 834

C. TUNIS 803

Classified by Ambassador Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) The trial of Tunisian independent journalist Taoufik
Ben Brik, charged with assaulting a woman in a late October
incident his supporters insist was manufactured by a
government seeking revenge for writings scathingly critical
of Ben Ali and his government (ref C),was held in Tunis on
November 19. The trial was attended by Helene Flautre, a
member of the European Parliament, Ben Brik's French lawyer
(who joined his defense team),and a leader of the
international NGO "Reporters without Borders." Several
western diplomats, including emboff, appeared at the venue
but, faced with an intimidating security presence, did not
enter the court room. Civil society contacts reported that
many Ben Brik supporters were denied access to the trial:
Prominent activists Sihem Bensidrine and her husband Omar
Mestiri were refused entry. Several traveling from other
cities were reportedly stopped by police and turned around on
the highway.


2. (C) According to accounts from the Embassy's civil society
contacts, Ben Brik's lawyers asked the court for a
postponement to give them more time to prepare and review the
indictment, asked that Ben Brik be released on bail, and
asked that they be allowed to meet with him in jail if he is
not released. The judges reportedly denied all three
requests and announced that they would deliver a verdict on
November 26. Addressing the judge directly, Ben Brik
reportedly insisted that his case was an act of revenge
driven by "Ben Ali and his political police," and protested
that a signed confession said to be in the hands of
prosecutors was a forgery.


3. (C) Meanwhile, opposition journalist contacts reported to
the NGO "Reporters without Borders" that plain clothes police
simultaneously placed "under siege" the offices of the three
principle opposition newspapers (all published in Arabic),
denying workers and journalists access to their offices: "Al
Mawqif" published by the the Party for Democratic Progress
(PDP); "El Tariq al-Jadid" published by the leftist "Tajdid"
(renewal) Party; and "Mouatinoun" published by the Democratic
Workers Forum for Liberty (FTDL). Embassy contact Rachid
Khachana, editor of Al-Mawqif, told the NGO "Reporters
without Borders" "This is the first time since the creation
of our paper in 1984 that we were denied access to our
offices."


4. (C) Comment: While we have not yet independently
confirmed the reported blockades of the opposition papers,
such actions (usually temporary) are a standard tactic the
GOT employs against political opponents. It is perhaps no
coincidence that the trial and the reported blockades came on
the same day President Ben Ali warned in remarks at a
credentialing ceremony for a group of ambassadors (including
the U.S. Ambassador) against "foreign interference in
Tunisia's affairs." (ref A). End comment.

GRAY