EXTRA: Tunisian journalist joins presidential race

Thu, 20 Jan 2011

Tunis - Tunisian journalist Taoufik Ben Brik on Thursday became the second candidate to announce his candidacy for president following the ouster last week of autocratic leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Ben Brik, who was jailed for five months by Ben Ali's administration, announced his decision to the German Press Agency dpa in Tunis.

The only other person to have declared his candidacy so far is Moncef Marzouki, leader of the opposition Congress for the Republic, who returned to Tunisia on Tuesday from exile in France.

Ben Brik was sentenced to six months in prison in November 2009 after being found guilty of assaulting a woman. He was released five months later.

Press freedom groups had argued the case was trumped-up and was an attempt to silence the journalist and author, who had penned several articles critical of Ben Ali in French newspapers and magazines.

"My pen played a leading role in toppling Ben Ali's regime," Ben Brik told dpa.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363283,journalist-joins-presidential-race.html.