Tunisian authorities deny passport to journalist Mohamed

Hamrouni

Tunisian Committee for the Protection of Journalists

Tunis

April 3, 2010

Journalist Mohamed Hamrouni of Al-Mawqif opposition newspaper was informed

today April 3, 2010 that his application for a passport was rejected by the Interior
Ministry without giving him any further explanation.

Hamrouni applied for a passport at the Gammarth police station on 26 May, 2009
and was given a receipt for it (receipt number 136 recorded on May 26, 2009).

He was called to the same police station this morning whereby he was officially
informed that his application was turned down.

The officer at the police station refused to give a copy of the rejection notice
which Hamrouni had signed and refused to return his passport application.

It is worth noting that the application had originally been accepted and that
Hamrouni has not been convicted of any criminal offences since his release from
prison in 1995, having spent 3 years and 8 months in jail for his trade union and
political activities, which means that he has now automatically regained his full
political and civil rights in accordance with the country’s constitution.

The Tunisian Committee for the Protection of Journalists hereby:

- Strongly condemns the arbitrary denials of passports to journalists including

Mohamed Hamrouni.

- Considers that this procedure further aggravates the sense of deprivation,

abuses and harassment inflicted on independent journalists denying them their
basic rights to have a passport and a journalist card, especially since this new
measure comes less than a week after Hamrouni suffered a violent assault as he
was heading to a press conference organised by Human Rights Watch and
scheduled to take place in the capital Tunis on Wednesday March 24, 2010,
which Tunisian authorities used police to prevent journalists attending it.

- Demands that the Tunisian authority give journalists all their rights including
the right to have a passport, and lift all restrictions imposed on them hindering
their movement and preventing them from fulfilling their duties under normal
working conditions..
- Considers that the authorities bear full responsibility for the deterioration of the
media sector and the decline in press freedom in our country