Tunisian Writers and Intellectuals Disapprove President Ben Ali’s Candidacy
TUNIS, Sept. 15, 2009 (TNA, TUNeZINE News Agency) - Writers, poets and intellectuals from the capital Tunis and several other Tunisian cities made public their disapproval of the illegal candidacy of General Zine El Abidine Ben Ali for the Otober 25, 2009 presidential election and pledged themselves to actively contribute to the boycott of this electoral event and to protest against Ben Ali’s life rule.
This protest was voiced on the occasion of a press conference, held on Thursday in the southern town of Redeyef, during which the chairwoman of the Tunisian Independent Writers Union Umm Zied pointed out that the intellectuals’ disapproval of General Ben Ali’s candidacy is a protest against the lack of freedom of speech and the serious human rights violations committed by police forces during the last two decades of his rule .
Mrs. Umm Zied underscored the need for the intellectuals to take an active part in the peaceful political struggle for the independence of the judiciary system and for democacy and civil rights.
