Nabil El Qurawy on trial for film broadcast

Tunisian businessman Nabil El Qurawy, director of the Nessma TV channel, said "the day of my trial is the day of real death of freedom of expression in Tunisia." The remark was made after a hearing held regarding the accusations directed to him that included broadcasting a video from a foreign TV channel and insulting religious rites through journalism of other means of promotion on purpose. In addition, he was accused of broadcasting a foreign video that disturbed the public system and affected morale. The accusations came about as a result of the channel broadcasting the film "Persepolis". The court held in Tunis decided to adjourn the case until January 23. El Qurawy said: "It is the first political trial in Tunisia after the revolution. A trial of an ethical background that usually belongs to the kind of cases subject to ethics and laws...this is one of the prominent characteristics of dictatorship figures." He added: "There is a category of Tunisians who made these ethical laws applicable to the events of an animated film alleged by them to be of that kind bearing insults to religion. It is worth noting that the film was broadcasted in Tunisia several times before the revolution and the ministers of Culture, Interior and  religious affairs authorised it." The director of Nessma TV, of which Silvio Berlusconi owns 25 per cent capital, expressed his disappointment regarding the silence of the Tunisian elite. He also said "Tunisia is currently dominated and governed by factors other than logic and law." Before he goes through the trial, he said: "My fate is about to be determined as they might stab me or compel me to travel abroad to have the title of a refugee."    It is the first time in the history of Tunisian courts that the trial was broadcast on national television (by Nessma TV). The trial was reported to have been delayed for two hours and had unprecedented media interest.