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On Sunday, the
privately owned broadcaster Hannibal TV was forced off the air for more than three
hours. The state-owned news agency Agence Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) issued a statement
stating that an arrest warrant had been issued for the station's owner on
charges of "high treason" for an alleged "plot to destabilize national
security." The statement accused the owner of using the Hannibal broadcasts to
undermine Tunisia's stability.
The station's owner, Larbi
Nasra, is a relative of the ousted president's second wife, Leila Trabelsi, a
deeply unpopular figure among Tunisians. Nasra almost certainly relied on
nepotism to gain a license to operate his television station; CPJ research
indicates that the only individuals to be granted licenses to operate private
radio or television stations during the former regime's 23-year rule were members
of a handful of influential families within Ben Ali's inner circle.
But the claim that
Nasra has used his television channel to destabilize the interim government or
otherwise agitate against the state is not supported by fact. Neither CPJ's own
research nor local Tunisian journalists I've interviewed have encountered
anything on Hannibal that could reasonably be interpreted as agitation in favor
of the ousted regime.
So what's the
significance of an hours-long suspension of a television station and why should
anybody care? For starters, this suspension may well be the first documented
press freedom violation since the collapse of the former regime less than two
weeks ago. It also illustrates the frailty of recent press freedoms gains. (See
here and here).
The interim government
in Tunis did acknowledge the blunder and allow the station to resume
operations. Within a few hours, Minister of Regional and Local Development Ahmed
Chebbi appeared on Hannibal's airwaves to convey the interim government's
apology. Nasra was released on Monday, a day after being arrested.
Chebbi stated that the
interim government would take measures to ensure that such episodes would not
recur. We hope so. It did not take long for the new government to use its
powers to abuse press freedom standards.
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