TUNISIA / Attessia TV taken to court by Ben Ali

On June 10^th the former Tunisian President’s lawyer announced that charges of “violation of honour and identity theft” had been filed on behalf of his client against Attessia TV, a general interest private television channel.

Apparently the ousted Tunisian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has been living in exile in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, since 2011, does not enjoy the humour of Allo Jeddah, a 20-minute comedy show broadcast across Tunisia every evening during Ramadan once the day’s fast has been broken. In the programme comedian Migalo imitates the voice of Ben Ali to trap a guest (a politician or journalist) into thinking he is Skyping with the former dictator.

This deception causes surprising reactions among Allo Jeddah’s guests: a former member of parliament offered to shelter Ben Ali in his house in Tunisia, while a supporter of the former president broke down in tears on hearing that he thought was his voice.

The formal complaint wants to remove certain sections of the show, even though Ben Ali apparently finds them “very funny”, as the magazine Le Point reported. The Haute Autorité Indépendante de la Communication Audiovisuelle (HAICA), watchdog of Tunisian broadcasting, was included in the complaint.

The court hearing was scheduled for June 14th at 10am. Until then, Allo Jeddah will continue,  the head of Attessia TV, Moez Ben Gharbia, has confirmed.

Sources: Satellifax, Le Point, Kapitalis