A protest rally was staged on Thursday morning in front of the seat of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) in Tunis, to denounce the increase of attacks against journalists.
The rally was organised at the call of the SNJT in response to the demonisation and hostility campaign against journalists, including the serious attack against the National TV teams, journalists and photojournalists last Sunday during the anti-Saïed protest in Tunis.
Journalists at the rally brandished placards calling for the respect of neutrality and objectivity of the journalistic work as well as the freedom of the press. They expressed their rejection of any attempt to intimidate and manipulate journalists by any party.
SNJT President Yassine Jelassi stated to TAP that this rally is an expression of “anger and rejection of savage attacks against journalists while doing their job by parties who do not believe in the freedom of journalistic work.”
He underlined the importance of solidarity among journalists and professional structures to fight against these practices.
He also reiterated the call for journalists to withdraw from any site or event where colleagues are attacked, and to boycott any individual or party behind the attacks in media reports and interviews.
SNJT vice-president Amira Mohamed said that the repeated attacks against journalists lately are a return to the violence perpetrated against them after 2011 under the Troika.
She pointed out that the violence recalls “scenes of public lynching, such as the one suffered by late Lotfi Nagdh.”
She called on the public prosecutor’s office to immediately take action against attacks on journalists, and on the judicial authorities to promptly prosecute the perpetrators, adding that the union will demand to see the videos of the latest attacks against the National TV journalists in order to identify and prosecute the attackers.
Secretary General of the General Federation of Information (UGTT) Mohamed Saïdi pointed out that “the sides that attacked the Tunisian TV teams as well as journalists and photojournalists on Sunday are known for their hostility to journalists and press freedom and for their rejection of professional, neutral and objective media work.”
Samir Bouaziz, a member of the Reporters Without Borders Tunis office, stressed the role of the State “which is the first responsible for the protection of journalists through the implementation of a clear policy and legislation in this field.”
Several protest rallies were also staged in the SNJT’s local offices.
Source: Tap News Agency