The Monitoring Unit of the Occupational Safety Center of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists issued a report on the violations of journalists and the freedom of press, last April. Moreover, it confirmed that it recorded 23 attacks on journalists, including 6 female journalists and 17 male journalists, who work in 4 television channels, 4 radio stations and 2 websites, and a news agency.
The report pointed out that April 2019 was the hardest period for journalists, despite the decline in the number of attacks. In fact, during this month, journalists were subjected to eight physical attacks of varying severity and only one case of verbal assault.
During this month, some journalists (3 cases) were banned from working, while some others (one case) were subjected to harassment. Moreover, the unit recorded 2 lawsuits against two journalists.
The citizens were top of the list regarding the assault of journalists by seven attacks, followed by politicians and public workers with two attacks, while government officials, sports’ associations, sports’ fans and private guards were also responsible for one attack.
In this regard, the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) called on the Public Prosecution to break with this attitude, in violation of the freedom of the press and the printing and publishing law (decree 115), taking into account the procedural aspects related to such files with regard to the law.
Besides, it also recommended that politicians should respect the nature of the journalists’ work and their right to work independently, away from any political pressure or intimidation by the parties’ members.
On the other hand, the union stressed that the Supreme Independent Electoral Commission should take a procedural guide to criminalize the attacks on journalists by political parties, during and before the election period, calling on the regional officials to respect the journalists 'work and not to hamper their access to information.
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