Tunisian journalist released

"Mr. Ben Brik¹s imprisonment was, from the beginning, a disgrace, and we remind the Tunisian authorities that targeting journalists as a means of suppressing freedom of expression and silencing critical opposition will not go unchallenged," said Virginie Jouan, WAN-IFRA's director of Press Freedom and Development Programmes.

Politically motivated arrest

Ben Brik was arrested on 29 October 2009, on spurious charges of having attacked a young woman following a traffic dispute. His trial and subsequent sentencing was widely condemned for being politically motivated, drawing international criticism from human rights organisations, media watchdogs and foreign governments.

Prior to his arrest, Ben Brik, who also writes for French-based publications, had been regularly harassed because of his work. A staunch opponent of Tunisian President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, he had been previously detained by the authorities and banned from leaving the country.

Throughout his trial, Ben Brik, 50, maintained that police had framed him for his political reporting.

WAN-IFRA is part of the Tunisia Monitoring Group, a coalition of 20 members of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) - the global network of free expression campaigners - that monitors free expression violations in Tunisia to focus attention on the country's need to improve its human rights record.

For more information, go to http://ifex.org/tunisia/tmg/