The Tunisian presidency on Wednesday (July 28th) sacked the CEO of the national television channel after an activist and a representative of the journalists' union were briefly denied access to the channel where they were to intervene in a program.
This decision comes three days after President Kais Saied took power in Tunisia, which led to fears about the respect of freedoms in the young democracy, especially after the closure of the offices of the Qatari channel Al Jazeera.
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Journalist Amira Mohamed, vice president of the SNJT, said she was blocked at the entrance to the Wataniya channel by a security agent who was awaiting permission from the television management allowing her to enter
. "The CEO of Wataniya told me that he had received instructions from a military official not to allow guests to enter the television headquarters
,
"
added human rights activist Bassem Trifi. The Ministry of Defense and the Presidency of the Republic affirmed that they had given no such instructions.
A few hours later, it was the chairman of the channel, Laassad Dhahech, accused of trying to cause trouble by limiting access to the channel, who was sacked.
He was replaced by a journalist who previously held this interim post, Awatef Dali.
President Saied, who suspended parliament for 30 days and sacked the prime minister, said he was committed to public freedoms, and would make sure to protect them.
