IFJ Condemns "Sham" Trial of Journalist as European Parliament Holds Hearing on Tunisia

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the four year jail term handed down to Tunisian journalist Fahem Boukadous on 13 January by a court for his reporting on the demonstrations against unemployment and corruption in the mining town of Gafsa in 2008.

"We condemn the sham trial which makes an innocent journalist a scapegoat for the government's failings, ‘" said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary." His sentence fits in with the regime's ongoing repression of media in Tunisia."

Fahem Boukadous, a reporter for the satellite TV El Hiwar station was accused of "forming a criminal association liable to attack persons" following his reports on the protests in Gafsa by some Tunisian unions members to denounce rampant corruption and rising unemployment. He went in hiding but was put on trial in absentia along with 37 other people on the same charges and was sentenced to six years in prison in December 2008. The sentence was upheld by an appeal court in February 2009.

The Syndicat National des Journalistes Tunisiens (SNJT), an IFJ affiliate, says that Fahem turned himself in to the authorities last November and was arrested. His co -accused were freed earlier in the same month by presidential pardon.

The IFJ calls on the European Parliament, which held a public hearing on Wednesday in Strasbourg on the human rights situation in Tunisia, to pay particular attention to press freedom violations by the regime which has declared war on journalists who refuse to give in to political interference. Two other journalists, Ben Brik and Zouhaïer Makhlouf were jailed last year for their outspoken criticism of President Ben Ali's rule.

"The double standards of the authorities in this case lay bare the Government's intention to suppress independent reporting," added White. "Even the presidential pardon was deliberately selective so as not to benefit a journalist who was not even involved in the protests. Europe must take a stand against these relentless attacks on media."

For more information contact the IFJ at   +32 2 235 2207   

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 125 countries worldwide