The head of the Tunisian private television channel Nessma pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court on Thursday after his channel aired the animated French-Iranian film Persepolis. The airing of the film on October 7 caused an uproar in Tunisia, after a scene in the film featured a dream sequences where a little girl is imagining a conversation with God. Nabil Karoui, the CEO of the channel, was sued by Islamic groups for “violating sacred values , indecency and disturbing public order.” “I will plead not guilty, of course. It is outrageous that it was I who appear, as people who burned my house were released,” Nabil el-Karoui told reporters. The airing of the film triggered a wave of violence that reached the office of the channel itself, where conservative Muslim men attempted to set fire to the place. “The new defenders of the moral order in Tunisia want to make an example out of me. We are in a moral dictatorship worse than under Ben Ali. Under the old system, I have never been threatened with death,” Karoui added. However, Karoui said he is “reasonably confident” of the outcome of the trial. BM
