Taoufik Ben Brik

Taoufik Ben Brik or Taoufik Ben Brick ( Arabic توفيق بن بريك, DMG Taufīq b. Barīk , born November 9, 1960 in Jérissa , Tunisia ) is a Tunisian journalist and writer . Under President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali , who ruled in Tunisia in an authoritarian manner until the beginning of 2011 , he was one of the most critical journalists in the country who was subject to constant persecution and who was attacked and imprisoned several times. In 2000 he drew attention to the restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Tunisia with an internationally known hunger strike .

Activity under Ben Ali and repression

Ben Brik worked as a journalist for the Tunisian state daily newspaper As-Sahafa until 1990 before he was fired there. After Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali took over the office of Tunisian President in 1987, censorship in Tunisia and repression against critical reporting increased sharply. From 1991, Ben Brik was banned from publishing in Tunisia and subsequently worked as a freelance journalist for European French-speaking media and news agencies . His reporting was characterized by critical contributions and primarily attacked the political and human rights situation in Tunisia.

The Tunisian government tried numerous measures to prevent Ben Brik's critical contributions from appearing. In the years after his publication ban, the physical and psychological pressure on him and increasingly on his family increased, but articles by the journalist continued to appear in the European media. First he was regularly summoned to the Ministry of the Interior, harassed and warned not to give critical reports in the future. According to his own account, after an article about the hunting visit of Saudi princes in 1993, he was banned from writing about animals, followed a few months later by an article about bribery in the market and a ban on writing about vegetables. In 1998, the Tunisian authorities began to systematically censor editions of foreign newspapers in which Ben Brik's articles appeared. With this measure, he should become an economic burden for the publishers, which should make orders unattractive for him.

After Taoufik Ben Brik continued to report critically, direct interference in his living environment increased. He was prevented from leaving Tunisia several times, including by failing to renew his passport. In addition, the telephone lines in his house were temporarily cut or postal documents intercepted. From 1999 onwards, he and other family members were increasingly attacked by plainclothes and uniformed police. After the situation subsequently deteriorated significantly, he decided to go on a hunger strike on April 3, 2000 .

Hunger strike in 2000

In addition to the increased pressure from constant persecution and assaults, Ben Brik wanted to draw attention to the renewed withdrawal of his passport and the general situation in Tunisia. In addition, he was threatened with a long prison sentence for “defaming state organs”. The hunger strike took place on the premises of the Aloès publishing house in Tunis , which had been founded only a year earlier by Tunisian and European intellectuals, including Sihem Bensedrine .

There was initially no broader public perception of the action, the group of supporters was small and also threatened by repression. Ben Brik quickly lost weight and was hospitalized for the first time three weeks later. The premises of the publishing house in which the action previously took place were closed and sealed by the authorities due to "disturbance of public order" and the work of the publishing house was prevented. Only now has the hunger strike been discussed in the European media and has resulted in declarations of solidarity and actions. Foreign journalists were prevented from visiting Ben Brik. Tunisian media still did not cover the event. Only television reports from foreign broadcasters and the mass mirroring of solidarity Internet sites and the excessive demands of Internet censorship led to a perception in Tunisia as well. On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day , President Ben Ali felt compelled to mention and downplay the "Ben Brik Affair".

The government had to give in and lifted the travel ban on May 2nd. Ben Brik received his passport back, but continued his hunger strike to secure the release of his brother, who had now been arrested. He left for Paris on May 4th to continue his hunger strike there without repression. He did not end the operation until May 15, after his brother was released.

A few months later, Taoufik Ben Brik returned to Tunisia. Ben Brik's hunger strike was followed by numerous other activities of this kind by other journalists and people in Tunisia in the following years.

further activities

After his return, Ben Brik continued to work as a freelance journalist for European media and published several books. He was also subjected to severe repression. After critical reports, he was placed under house arrest. In 2009, he was arrested after a car accident and detained for six months. He was charged with assaulting a woman in the incident. Human rights organizations such as Reporters Without Borders accused the Tunisian government of orchestrating and exaggerating the case. The arrest took place a few days after the presidential elections , which Ben Brik had accompanied with critical articles.

In January 2011, President Ben Ali fled the country after the Tunisian Revolution . After the upheaval, Taoufik Ben Brik announced that he would run for the presidential election initially announced for mid-2011. However, the election was postponed to the end of 2014 . He criticized the transitional government and the moderate Islamist Ennahda party , which received the most votes in the constituent assembly election in October 2011 .

See also

• Censorship in Tunisia

literature

• Henner Kirchner: Local censorship and global public. Legitimation in the Age of Global Communication: The Case Study Tunisia. In: Angelika Hartmann (ed.): History and memory in Islam. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004. ISBN 978-3-525-35574-9

Web links

• Bernhard Schmid: The President is in mourning. In: Jungle World . May 10, 2000, accessed February 15, 2012 .  Report on the hunger strike.
• Alexander Göbel: The poet and the tyrant from Tunisia. In: Deutsche Welle Online . January 14, 2010, accessed February 15, 2012 .  2009 Detention Report.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d e} Henner Kirchner: Local censorship and global public. Legitimation in the Age of Global Communication: The Case Study Tunisia . In: Angelika Hartmann (ed.): History and memory in Islam . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 978-3-525-35574-9 , pp. 277 ff . , Digitized BSB Munich.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Bernhard Schmid: The President is in mourning. (No longer available online.) In: Jungle World . May 10, 2000, archived from the original on November 2, 2009 ; Retrieved February 15, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ marabout.de: Chronicle of the social and literary history of Africa. Tunisia. Retrieved February 15, 2012 . 
4. ↑ Reporters Without Borders : A textbook case in press censorship for the past 20 years. November 5, 2007, accessed February 15, 2012 . 
5. ↑ Reporters Without Borders : Journalists harassed. July 28, 2010, accessed February 15, 2012 . 
6. ↑ Reporters Without Borders : Post-poll violence and an arrest targeting two journalists. October 29, 2009, accessed February 15, 2012 . 
7. ^ A critic of the regime wants to become president. In: Focus Online . January 20, 2011, accessed February 15, 2012 . 
8. ↑ maghrebemergent.info: Taoufik Ben Brik: "Ennahda est le dernier cadeau empoisonné de Ben Ali". (No longer available online.) October 26, 2011, archived from the original on January 31, 2012 ; Retrieved February 16, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.