CAIRO: A Tunisia court decided to release Attounissia newspaper publisher Nassereldeen Ben Saida on Wednesday on his first court session. His case was adjourned until March 8. Ben Saida is facing criminal charges of publishing indecent material that encourages vice. The publisher, who lives with diabetes, began a hunger strike in opposition to his detention and reportedly lost consciousness on Wednesday, according to his lawyers. He was arrested following his newspaper's reprinting of photos of German-Tunisian footballer Sami Khedira with his semi-nude girlfriend and model, which was first published in the German version of GQ magazine. The news came as a relief for many, including the presidential palace. The president's office sent a statement affirming the country's commitment to freedom of expression and “expressing their relief over the court's decision.” The statement, which was released on Thursday night. reaffirmed the president's “refusal of the attacks on journalists,” calling for “more guarantees of freedom of press and opinion.” The statement continued to support the media in Tunisia and to “salvage it from dire states that it is in.” The Minister of Justice previously said that the government cannot intervene in the matter, as “the judiciary is fully independent,” but widely condemned the imprisoning of journalist and opinion holders. Ben Saida and the newspaper's Editor Habib Guizani and one of their journalists Mohamed Hedi Hidri were arrested on February 15, but Guizani and Hidri were released last Thursday after hours of questioning by police. Earlier in the week, a judge ordered Ben Saida to stay in pre-trial detention on serious “public indecency” charges that could put him behind bars for five years. “This portrayal of a press offense as a common crime is reminiscent of the political and administrative machinations that were used to convict journalists and gag the media when Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was president,” said a report by Reporters Without Borders calling for Ben Saida's release. The International Federation of Journalists also issued a statement calling for Ben Saida's immediate release and sent it to Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki and Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali through the Tunisian ambassador in Brussels on February 20. “We followed the progress of the case and we join the appeal made by syndicate members in your country to demand the immediate release of the newspaper publisher,” read the statement that was published in French on the newspaper's website. “We learned that Ben Saida began an open-ended hunger strike on February 18 to protest against his detention and we ask you to intervene immediately for his release to avoid a human tragedy,” read the statement, appealing to top officials to save the publisher's life. “We believe that the imprisonment of a journalist for publishing a photo is a disproportionate sanction and unacceptable,” continued the organization, which represents around 600,000 journalists across the world. The human rights and justice ministers said Monday that the government is against the imprisonment of any journalist or writer regarding media issues in the country, in a meeting with reporters. Nour el-Deen al-Behairy, minister of justice, told reporters that the case cannot be intervened by the government and it is now in the hands of the court, affirming on the independence of the judiciary and the importance of “respecting the judiciary system.” The human rights minister said he is against the imprisonment “no matter what the reason is,” leaving the matter in the hands of the court. A TV Satellite station was also brought to court recently over airing the French film Persepolis for not censoring a scene where a little girl is talking about God. The station's head was sued by a number of Islamists in the country soon after the channel's headquarters was broken into and smashed by an angry mob. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/D8MEZ Tags: Jail, Nude Photo, Publisher, Sami Khedira Section: Culture, Latest News, Media, Tunisia
