[Mb-civic] CBC News - FRENCH JOURNALIST ATTACKED IN TUNISIA

[CBC News Online]

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FRENCH JOURNALIST ATTACKED IN TUNISIA
WebPosted Sat Nov 12 15:10:06 2005

---Reporters Without Borders says it suspects that members of Tunisia's
security services assaulted a French journalist who had written about
human rights abuses in the north African country.

Christophe Boltanski, 43, of the French daily Libération, was repeatedly
beaten and stabbed near his hotel in Tunis Friday night.

The press freedom organization says he called out for help, but police on
guard outside the nearby Czech Embassy did not react. The group says his
four attackers were "mysteriously able to disappear in a neighbourhood
that is full of police."

Boltanski said the men sprayed his face with pepper spray before beating
him and stabbing him in the back. They left the scene, in the embassy
district, with his notebook, mobile phone, USB flash drive and other
personal belongings.

Reporters Without Borders is calling it "a deliberate act of intimidation
targeted by the Tunisian government at foreign journalists who still dare
to take an interest in the deplorable human rights situation in Tunisia."

A report by United Press International says Tunisian authorities arrested
two men Saturday on suspicion of assaulting Boltanski.

Reporters Without Borders says Tunisian authorities and the United
Nations seem unable to guarantee security and free speech for journalists
and human rights activists in Tunis although the city will soon begin
hosting a summit on the future of the internet.

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