Tunisia: “Persepolis” Trial a Setback for Free Expression →
The trial of a television director on morality charges for airing a controversial animated film is a disturbing turn for the nascent Tunisian democracy, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 23, 2012, a Tunis court announced that Nabil Karoui, director of Nessma TV, will go on trial on April 19 for airing the French animated movie “Persepolis.”
On October 7, 2011, the privately owned Nessma television station broadcast “Persepolis,” an animated feature film about a girl’s childhood in Iran. The broadcast led to protests in Tunis because it contained a scene depicting God, which some consider to be forbidden by Islam. On October 14, a crowd damaged Karoui’s home in Tunis with Molotov cocktails.
“Trying someone for speech offenses is a relic of the despotism Tunisians protested against,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Tunisian authorities should immediately drop the prosecution of Karoui.”
(via socialistexan)
