Tunisian journalists protest against Media appointments

Scores of journalists rallied in Kasbah Square in Tunisia’s capital of Tunis Wednesday, protesting against the recent government appointments in the country’s media sector.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Scores of journalists rallied in Kasbah Square in Tunisia’s capital of Tunis Wednesday, protesting against the recent government appointments in the country’s media sector.The demonstrators, who gathered outside the government headquarters, denounced the appointments a day earlier of Lotfi Touati and Imen Bahroun as the heads of the Dar Essabah group and Tunisian first national television Watanya 1, respectively, as the two were accused of having strong ties with the regime of ex- president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.Local reports said the pair were appointed despite the strong opposition of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), which has warned of an impending strike in the media sector if its requests are not considered.Most of the protesters are reportedly affiliated to a private Tunisian press group, Dar Essabah, and are backed by a number of representatives from the constitutional assembly.