21 March 2012

Road ahead rocky for Tunisia's newly liberated media

Islamists attacked Nessma television station in October for airing an Iranian animated film that depicted God, accusing it of stirring up trouble on the eve of Tunisia's first election since the uprising that ousted Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Police detained the protesters, but also put Nessma's boss on trial. Among the charges: violating "sacred values".

In February, Nassredine Ben Saida, the publisher of a tabloid newspaper set up after the revolution, was jailed for eight days and fined after he plastered a picture of a German-Tunisian footballer and his naked girlfriend on the front page.

Tunisian journalists and secularists fear these and other incidents are signs the interim government wants to roll back gains in freedom of expression after the uprising. [Reuters] Read more