Hit by strikes, Tunisia vows to guarantee press freedom

TUNISIA: The Tunisian government vowed on Wednesday to implement two decrees, passed last year but not yet enacted, guaranteeing press freedom and regulating audiovisual media, a key demand of journalists striking nationwide.

“The coalition government has decided to implement decrees 115 and 116 regulating the information sector,” the official TAP news agency reported, citing an announcement by the prime minister's office. The application of the two decrees, signed into law in November last year by then president Foued Mebazaa, had been blocked by the coalition government led by the ruling Islamist party Ennahda that came to power in late 2011.

The authorities judged that the decrees were incomplete but never amended them, fuelling accusations that they had assumed discretionary powers over the media industry. Many journalists had expressed concern at the government's failure to apply decree 115, which clarifies the rights of journalists and prohibits “restrictions on the freedom to disseminate information.”

Decree 116 stipulates the creation of an independent authority to guarantee “the freedom of audiovisual communication,” and charged with issuing radio and television licences. Wednesday's announcement came as journalists observed a nationwide strike, after months of rising tensions with the authorities, which they accuse of curbing press freedom and seeking to control public media groups.

Zied El Heni, a senior member of the national journalists' union (SNJT) that called the strike, welcomed Wednesday's announcement, but questioned why it took the government so long to reach the decision. “We regret that so much time has been lost. We could have avoided many problems and disputes for the sector and for the country,” El Heni said, urging the rapid implementation of the decrees.

AFP