Tunisian forces storm the official news agency to impose a president associated with Muslim Brotherhood
Tunisian security forces stormed the headquarters of the official news agency (WAT) by force, to install a media figure affiliated with the Ennahda movement to oversee the running of the agency, after journalists and its workers refused this appointment, according to a video circulating on social media.
In this context, the general secretary of the General Media University, Muhammad al-Saidi, said that the history of the proposed director Kamal bin Yunus is hostile to freedom of the media and true journalistic work, indicating that despite the proxy workers’ rejection of this decision, bin Yunus chose confrontation with the impetus of the political belt of the government led by the movement Ennahda for the sake of controlling the Tunis Africa News Agency and the public media and using it in the political battle against Tunisian President Qais Saeed, stressing that this appointment will not pass.
A week ago, the government decided to appoint Kamal Ben Younes, a journalist known for his loyalty to the Ennahda movement, who worked in several local media organizations, and also supervised the management of Radio Zitouna, as Director General of the Tunis Africa News Agency, but his appointment was strongly rejected by the journalists working for the agency , Who entered a general strike to denounce this appointment and demand its reversal, considering it to be a party appointment aimed at controlling the agency and public media to serve the agenda of the Ennahda movement and the government of Hisham El-Mechichi
“The security forces prevented them from filming and attacked a number of female journalists,” the agency’s journalist, Al-Hadi Al-Huraizi, said, explaining that “the situation is very delicate and that the safety of his colleagues is threatened.”
He added, “For the first time, the agency is desecrated by security and attacks on journalists,” calling on Tunisian President Kais Saeed to intervene as he is “the only guarantor of freedoms,” as he put it.
In addition, the official spokesperson of the Tunisian General Labor Union, Sami Taheri, confirmed that “Prime Minister Hicham El-Mechichi has given the order to the security forces to storm the agency’s headquarters, to implement the decision to install Kamal Ben Younes at the head of the agency,” he said.
For her part, the head of the Press Syndicate branch at the Tunis Africa News Agency, Olfa Habbouba, considered that the appointment of Kamal Ben Younes as the head of the agency is disgraceful, Muscat and his party, saying: “We reject this and we hope that the appointments are based on programs and objectives and that they are in consultation with trade union and scientific parties as well. We ask that it be based on files, and every candidate for the post is subsequently held accountable for the results. “
Al-Taheri mentioned in a blog post on his Facebook page, Tuesday, that “dictatorship is taking shape”, while the media attaché of the trade union organization, Ghassan Al-Qosaibi, said that “storming the agency’s headquarters by means of security to install a person who is rejected by all workers is a scandal and an attempt to tame the media,” as he put it. .
The Vice President of the Journalists Syndicate, Amira Muhammad, also denounced the transformation of a media institution into a military barracks and surrounded it with security from every side, and the security forces stormed the offices of journalists, stressing that the proposed director Kamal bin Yunus today lost the status of a journalist because he attacked his colleagues by police force, considering that there is a plan to control The Tunis Africa news agency, then the state radio, must pass to bring all the media to their knees to serve their agendas.
