In Tunisia, the Jasmine Revolution in 2011 liberated a press long muzzled by the Ben Ali regime. Since then, Walid Bourouis has witnessed and been victim of the progressive degradation of press rights. For denouncing corruption within state media, he had to flee his country.
Walid Bourouis begins his career as a journalist in the French-speaking newspaper The Daily in 2009. At the time, the President Ben Ali rules the country with an iron fist: multipartyism banned, freedom of association confiscated and press muzzled. When he fell in 2011, Walid Bourouis was 20 years old. A wind of change is blowing across the country. Press freedom develops and Walid rediscovers his profession.
« I remember very, very well the front page of our newspaper the next day: “The wind of the revolution is blowing”. On July 14 I wrote an article “The voice of the people cries haro (?) on the regime” and the editor-in-chief refused, laughing, saying that it was perhaps a little too early, but there you go , that was the last time I was censored », he says on the microphone of Welly Diallo from RFI.
The euphoria did not last long. In 2011, he joined Cactus Prod. Cactus Prod is one of these “confiscated” media which belonged to Ben Ali’s family and were requisitioned by the State after the revolution.
In 2016, Walid Bourouis revealed a case of corruption within his own media; at the heart of the investigation: an embezzlement of more than 4 million euros. Ministers find themselves facing justice and the affair makes headlines in the country. For Walid, it is the start of a new daily life full of threats.
« Since 2016, there were threats and attacks, it's everyday life… I remember a big demonstration where I was attacked on the knees with 21 days of rest and my face too… It was always like that . »
Things get worse in 2022 when Kaïs SaïedPresident of Tunisia, adopts the Decree-Law 54 which punishes the “dissemination of false information”. On July 16, 2023, journalists take to the streets to defend the profession. Walid speaks and criticizes the actions of President Kaïs Saïed, the corruption of those around him, as well as the police violence exercised against journalists.
« It was a day of anger because, the day before, Kaïs Saïed gave a speech the day before where he called journalists criminals. And that's when the threats started again, but this time accompanied by legal proceedings. I was facing five to ten years in prison so that's when I had to leave the country. »
Since then, prosecuted under Decree 54, Walid has lived in exile in France, where he continues his union activities and his support for his journalist friends imprisoned in Tunisia.
Also readTunisia: the Ministry of Justice declares war “on fake news”
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