10 March 2004

IFJ SUSPENDS TUNISIAN JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION AFTER PRESS FREEDOM AWARD TO PRESIDENT BEN ALI


The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has decided to suspend the Tunisian Journalists' Association (AJT) from membership and recommend its expulsion. IFJ's Executive Committee had expressed dismay over the presentation of the Association's "Plume d'Or" award for press freedom to President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali at a ceremony late last year.

Ben Ali's government has been accused by press freedom groups and human rights bodies of putting pressure on independent media and violating the rights of journalists.

The decision, taken by the IFJ Executive Committee in Berlin on 7 March 2004, is subject to confirmation by the IFJ World Congress, which meets in Athens in May. The Tunisian Association has been invited to appeal the decision there.

The Committee's action follows complaints over the failure of the AJT to defend adequately the rights of journalists in Tunisia. The Committee had written to the Association asking the reasons for its "lack of commitment ? in confronting press freedom problems."

Following the AJT's response, the IFJ Executive Committee decided that under its Constitution the Association had "acted in a manner contrary to the principles or objectives of the Federation" and in a manner likely to damage [its] interests.

The IFJ Executive Committee noted that independent journalists were making serious efforts to bring about change within the Association. The Committee encouraged this process of change, holding out possible readmission to the IFJ "when conditions permit."

For more information, visit:
-IFJ: http://www.ifj.org


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Also from the Communiqué, 10 March 2004

VENEZUELA: JOURNALISTS ATTACKED AS CIVIL UNREST WORSENS 9 March 2004 HAITI: SPANISH JOURNALIST KILLED, AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER WOUNDED 9 March 2004 BANGLADESH: CPJ DELEGATION URGES GOVERNMENT TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST MEDIA 9 March 2004 THAILAND: INDEPENDENT MEDIA UNDER INCREASED POLITICAL PRESSURE 9 March 2004 UKRAINE: JOURNALIST'S DEATH, RADIO STATION RAID PART OF A PATTERN? 10 March 2004 GEORGIA: HARSH TREATMENT OF JOURNALISTS, HARSH LAWS 10 March 2004 YEMEN: JOURNALIST'S ARREST PROTESTED 10 March 2004 INTERNATIONAL: SAUDI ARABIA: PROTEST GOVERNMENT BAN ON JOURNALIST 10 March 2004 INTERNATIONAL: MISA TO HOLD AGM IN MASERU 10 March 2004 INTERNATIONAL: CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON STATE CONTROL OVER ARAB MEDIA 10 March 2004 INTERNATIONAL: Journalism Organisations from 11 Countries Create Network 10 March 2004 MALAYSIA: MALAYSIA: ASIAN CYBERACTIVISTS NOTE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES 10 March 2004 INTERNATIONAL: REEBOK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD PROGRAMME SEEKS NOMINATIONS 10 March 2004

Tunisia

Judicial confusion puts press freedom in peril 14 May 2012 Clashes erupt outside national TV station after talk of privatizing state media 26 April 2012 Police attack journalists covering protest 11 April 2012 Seven-year prison terms handed down for mockery of Islam 9 April 2012 Al Jazeera journalist expelled from meeting, attacked 27 March 2012 See all alerts: Tunisia


North Africa

EGYPT: Police shutter Al-Alam's Cairo office 16 May 2012 MOROCCO: Rapper sentenced to one year in prison for criticising police 14 May 2012 ALGERIA: Crackdown on protest as election nears 9 May 2012 EGYPT: Two journalists report being brutalised in custody 8 May 2012


 
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