Tunisia- Jihen Louati:Journalists real fight today is repeal Decree 54 (Audio)

Speaking to Tunisie Numérique,member of the Executive Office of the Syndicate of Journalists (SNJT ) Jihen Louati voiced disappointment concerning the recent verdict against journalist Ziad E-Hani. 

Louati stated that the SNJT hoped for El-Hani’s release and dismissal of the case believing that the true battle lies in advocating for the adoption of Decree 115, which regulates the journalistic profession.

She emphasised that, despite any procedural legal deviations in El-Hani’s case or similar cases involving journalists, the essential issue revolves around freedom, not prison sentences, even if they are not enforceable.

In the same vein, the speaker highlighted that the primary battle should focus on the imperative of cancelling Decree 54. Initially promoted as a measure to regulate cyberspace, it has, in practice, become a sword hanging over the necks of free voices in Tunisia. She asserted that the decree has been consistently employed to refer a significant number of journalists to the judiciary, making it a tool wielded against them in numerous cases.