Freedom of expression in Tunisia

In 2012, the battle for freedom of expression continued in Tunisia. Though the internet remained uncensored, free speech advocates voiced concerns over the use of religion as a pretext to curb free speech. Meanwhile, a legal void has characterized the Tunisian media landscape as the government continues to ignore a new press law that protects journalists and limits government interference in media.
An uncensored web access :
In February, the highest court of appeal threw out a verdict ordering the filtering of X-rated content. In early September, Tunisia joined the Freedom Online Coalition , a group of governments “committed to collaborating to advance internet freedom”. The northernmost African country will also host the coalition's third conference next year.
Despite these positive steps from a country which once was an “internet enemy”, activists remain particularly concerned about the absence of an investigation into internet surveillance and censorship during the former regime. In an interview given to Global Voices, anonymous political cartoonist _Z_ said:
In August, a group of bloggers and activists vowed to lodge a complaint against the Tunisian Interior Ministry, in order to reveal the identity of those responsible for giving filtering instructions.
Tunisian Internet users also remain at risk of judicial prosecution. In March, 2012, Ghazi Beji and Jabeur Mejri were convicted to seven and half-years in prison over the publication of content offensive to Islam. Mejri, who is still in prison after losing appeal , published caricatures of Prophet Muhammad on Facebook. Beji who fled the country, published a book called “The Illusion of Islam” on the document-sharing website Scribd.
Blasphemy : On August 1, Ennhadha Movement - the party which won last year’s parliamentary election - filed an anti-blasphemy bill, to be introduced to the country's Penal Code. The bill has not been debated yet by the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), elected back in October, 2011, to draft the country's new constitution. A week later, the first draft of Tunisia's new constitution was released. The draft contained a clause criminalizing blasphemy. However, following negotiations between the three parties in the ruling coalition, the clause was dropped.
On December 14, the NCA published an amended version of the draft constitution on its website. The new draft does not include a blasphemy clause, guarantees free speech and prohibits prior censorship.
Ennahdha's vows to criminalize blasphemy followed the controversial Spring of Arts, a modern contemporary art fair held between June 1 and 10. On June 10, ultra conservative protesters attacked Palais Abdelia, where the fair's closing ceremony was held, and vandalized artworks exhibited there. The protesters accused the fair of exhibiting blasphemous artworks, something the fair's organizers denied. The violent protests were ignited by rumors circulating on the social networking site Facebook, claiming that the fair exhibited a painting depicting Prophet Muhammad.
On May 3, a Tunis-based primary court fined Nabil Karoui, director of the privately owned Nessma TV, 1,200 TND over the broadcast of the animated film Persepolis.
Media executives behind bars:
On February 15, Nasreddine Ben Saida, the general director of the Arabic-language daily newspaper Attounissia was arrested, along with two of the newspaper's journalists, over the publication of a front page photo featuring football player Sami Khedira with his nude girlfriend. The three were later on released.

President Moncef Marzouki, PM Hamadi Jebali and leader of the Islamist party Ennahdha Rached Ghannouchi performing a song on the puppet show Logique Siyasi.

In late August, a Tunis based court ordered the arrest of Sami Fehri, a TV producer and director of Attounissia TV channel, on corruption charges. Fehri co-owned a production company with a Ben Ali in-law. Before turning himself to the police, Fehri declared that a media advisor to PM Hamdai Jebali, called him to complain about the broadcast of the satirical puppet show, Logique Siyasi [political logic]. The show was suspended in August, but the TV network has recently resumed its broadcast. Fehri was not released despite a verdict issued by the highest court of appeal on November 28, quashing his indictment and detention order [en]. In protest against his ongoing detention, he went on hunger strike. On December 27, he was transferred to hospital after his reported health deterioration.
Press Freedom:
On October 17, Tunisian journalists went on strike to protest against what they described as the government's attempts to curb press freedom and control state-owned media outlets. Journalists also called the government to implement two decree laws adopted in November, 2011, by the former interim government. The two laws (decrees 115 and 116) guarantee freedom of press and independence of state-owned media. Military and Censorship:
On May 21, an army general confiscated two cameras for Ramzi Bettibi a journalist for the collective blog Nawaat. Bettibi was filming a court hearing in the case of the death of protesters during the uprising that toppled the regime of Ben Ali. For a few days, Bettibi went on hunger strike to call for the lift of restrictions on the coverage of court hearings in what is known as “Martyrs' case”.
Ayoub Massoudi, a former advisor to current President Moncef Marzouki faces military trial over his televised declarations on the extradition of former Gaddafi PM from Tunisia to Libya. Massoudi described the extradition of Baghdadi Mahmoudi as “a treason against the State” and accused Rachid Ammar [Chief of Staff of the Tunisian Armed Forces] and Abdelkrim Zbidi [Minister of Defence] of not notifying President Marzouki about the extradition process which took place on June 14. On September 21, Messoudi was given a four-month suspended prison sentence. The next court hearing will take place on January 3.
Trial of Graffiti:
Oussama Bouagila and Chahine Berriche, graffiti artists and members of the street art community, Zwewla [the poor in Tunisian dialect] are facing legal action for drawing graffiti in support of the poor. They were charged with “writing, without permission, on public property”, “breaching the state of emergency” and “publishing fake news that could disturb public order”. On December 5, a primary court delayed their trial to January 23, 2013.                                                                                  

 Globalvoicesonline.org

Cos'è un Idea

Chi di voi si è mai chiesto cos'è veramente quello che noi definiamo IDEA?
Quasi nessuno di voi, troverà una risposta che lo soddisferà.
Già, noi non ci facciamo caso, non pensiamo mai a cos'è un IDEA ma siamo comunque pronti a difenderla, a esprimerla agli altri, talvolta siamo pronti a imporla agli altri e a morire per essa.
La patria, la religione, la fede, la democrazia, l'orientamento politico... Sono tutte idee astratte ma su cui basiamo la nostra intera vita.
Come facciamo noi a sapere se le nostre idee sono quelle giuste, perchè siamo così convinti delle nostre idee?
Le idee sono come dei parassiti non si riescono più a cancellare, non si possono piu eliminare una volta che sono cresciute all'interno del nostro conscio.
 Abbiamo l'esempio di Hitler che con la sua idea di razza Ariana ha cambiato l'intera storia del mondo, le idee di Marx, Guevara, Copernico, Galileo, Gandhi e molti altri, che erano pronti a sacrificarsi nel nome dei propri pensieri.
Perchè le idee sono così importanti? Che beneficio abbiamo ad avere un'idea?
Probabilmente nessuno, ma siamo costretti a difendere le nostre idee se vogliamo vivere serenamente.
Noi siamo essere pensanti, seminiamo e coltiviamo pensieri astratti durante tutta la nostra vita, pensieri che spesso rimangono anche dopo la morte.
Le nostre convizioni servono per farci vivere in modo civile, in modo umano... Ma solo se sappiamo cogliere anche le opinioni degli altri, accettarle e fare in modo di creare sempre nuove ispirazioni che donano alla vita sociale un nuovo passo verso l'unione e il senso di comunità.

Tribute to Tarak Mekki, the tunisian opposer

Tarak Mekki was a businessman born in Tunisia on the 27 june 1958.

He declared him self a opponent to Ben Ali regime in 2004, when he moved to Canada after he had refused a proposal from the corrupt Trabelsi clan. Trabelsi was the family of the ex-first lady.
In Canada, Mekki refused for two times the status of political refugee. In 2007, he started his strict opposition to the Tunisian dictator, he was one of the few political exiles to ask publicly the deposition of Ben Ali and denouncing the corruption and the systematic violation of human rights.
After two years of fierce opposition, its official website was officially canceled in 2009, and his facebook account deactivated, a crackdown that led him to move his open opposition through videos, cartoons and satirical appeals asking for a second republic, all through youtube.
His activism led the Ben Ali regime to another attempt of censorship to its heavy criticism, blacking out youtube and dailymotions by the networks of the North African country.
At the outbreak of the riots of December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid, was the first to announce the flight of Tunisia's largest and corrupt businessman Belhassen Trabelsi, brother of the ex First Lady Leila Trabelsi.
After 14 January 2011, he went back to his country and he founded the Movement for the Second Republic.
He was an opposer of Ennahdha islamic party in tunisia and he denounced the corruption in the country.
He died on the 31 december 2012 in his house in Hammamet.