Tunisian Court Censors Radio Interview with Alleged Al-Qaeda Associate

04 February 2013 1:09 pm | Amira Masrour |

Abou Iyadh

The investigating judge of the Court of First Instance in Tunis ordered that Tunisian radio Mosaique FM not broadcast its exclusive interview this afternoon with Seifallah Ben Hassine whose alias is Abou Iyadh.

Abou Iyadh is the leader of the Tunisian Salafist, jihadist group Ansar al Sharia and wanted for several charges, including premeditated murder, and for suspected ties to Al-Qaeda.

Mosaique FM received a fax from the court not to diffuse the interview in question a few minutes before the start of the show and subsequently complied with the legal decision.

The reasons for this court order are based on public safety concerns and fears that Abou Iyadh would defame Minister of the Interior Ali Laarayedh in particular.

This is not the first time that a media interview has been canceled over such a court order. On November 22, 2012 Tunisia’s attorney general issued a judicial order to ban the broadcast of an interview with the in-law of ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Slim Chiboub, on Ettounsiya TV.


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Comments (3)

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Patrick Batchelder says:

05 February 2013 at 06:21

If this man is charged with murder why has he not been arrested and tried in court? Was his interview to be read on the air or was it recorded secretly? If secretly then these must stop. If he is such a coward as to hide behind a recorded interview then his views should be given no credence.

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kosksi+3osbaan says:

04 February 2013 at 13:25

Inaccurate half truths, done on purpose out of ignorance or maliciously:

<>

why don’t you continue and say that that court order was overruled by a judge and that the interview was ultimately broadcasted a couple of days later?…No you can’t, because the author and the editors are amateurs, or just plain malicious. In either cases, they are incompetent.

Reply
- kosksi+3osbaan says:
  
  04 February 2013 at 13:26
  
  my reaction was about this part of the article (somehow it disappeared.)
  
  “This is not the first time that a media interview has been canceled over such a court order. On November 22, 2012 Tunisia’s attorney general issued a judicial order to ban the broadcast of an interview with the in-law of ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Slim Chiboub, on Ettounsiya TV.”
  
  Reply

Tunisian Court Censors Radio Interview with Alleged Al-Qaeda Associate

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