Journalists hold up signs reading in Arabic “fourth estate, not kneeling estate” and “journalists’ rights are not privileges”, as they demonstrate outside the headquarters of the Tunis Africa Press (TAP) news agency, in Tunis, 15 April 2021, FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images
A number of IFEX members join rights groups in welcoming the Tunisian government's decision to rescind a controversial appointment to the country's national news agency, Tunis Africa Press (TAP), and call on those who ordered a police attack on the agency's journalists during a peaceful sit-in to be held accountable.
The undersigned NGOs welcome the Tunisian government’s decision to withdraw its nomination of a controversial political appointment as director general of the country’s national news agency, Tunis Africa Press (TAP), and express their support to Tunisians’ right to independent public media, committed to ethical journalism. They strongly condemn, however, the 13 April police attack on the headquarters of TAP in Tunis, during which a number of its journalists and employees were assaulted while taking part in a peaceful sit-in.