Tunesiens vidtgående lovgivning om injurier krænker ytringsfriheden og bør “henvises til historiens skraldespand”, mener menneskeretsvagthunden Human Rights Watch
TUNIS, 20 March 2013: New criminal defamation (bagvaskelses) charges against a university professor and a blogger for allegedly libeling (tilsvine /forhåne) public officials underscore the need to end the criminalization of defamation in Tunisia, writes Human Rights Watch on its website Wednesday.
They face up to two years in prison for publicly exposing alleged wrongdoing of the minister of Foreign Affairs and the general rapporteur of the constitution at the National Constituent Assembly.
Human Rights Watch emphazises: Tunisian authorities should urgently amend the country’s law on defamation to make it conform to international norms on freedom of expression.
These standards hold that defamation should be considered a civil matter, not a crime punishable with imprisonment. They also recognize that public figures, while entitled to protection of their reputation, should tolerate a greater degree of criticism than private citizens.
“Criminal defamation laws have a chilling (afskrækkende) effect on freedom of expression and work against the public interest by deterring people from speaking out about corruption or other misconduct by public officials”, said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, adding:
“It is high time that Tunisia consigned (henviste) its oppressive criminal defamation legislation to the dustbin (affaldsspand) of history.”
Authorities brought criminal defamation charges against Olfa Riahi, a blogger, on March 8, 2013.
She had posted information about alleged misuse of public funds by Rafik Abdessalem before he stepped down as foreign minister in March, including hotel receipts apparently indicating that he had spent several nights in a leading Tunis hotel at public expense.
Two weeks earlier, Raja Ben Slama, a psychoanalyst and university professor, received a summons (tilsigelse) to appear before an investigative judge in Tunis to face the charge of defaming a public official.
The charge arose from a complaint filed by Habib Khedher, a member of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) representing the majority Ennahdha party, who is tasked with coordinating drafting of the constitution.
Riahi and Ben Slama, if convicted, could face imprisonment for up to six months under one provision of the law criminalizing defamation or up to two years if found guilty of wrongly accusing an official of wrongdoing.
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http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/20/tunisia-repeal-crim
