Tribune. The tribute, that the foundation of the house of Tunisia in Paris, in collaboration with the Committee for the respect of human freedoms and rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT), had initially planned to return on December 9, 2022 to Sophie Bessis , a committed Tunisian historian and intellectual, internationally recognized both for his works and for her positions, has just been “postponed” sine by this institution on the grounds of “administrative and logistical constraints”. These are the laconic terms of a message sent a few days before the event by the managers of the house of Tunisia.
How not to bring such an abrupto decision to the climate of hostility maintained at the moment with regard to the Democrats in our country? This decision seems to confirm a disturbing drift towards the prohibition of any free and critical speech with regard to power.
Sophie Bessis, female woman and feminist activist who is regularly expressed for the defense of rights and freedoms and whose democratic commitment is no longer to be demonstrated, must be able to express themselves freely within Tunisian public institutions. If the evening scheduled for December 9, 2022 had to pay tribute to his work and his journey above all, and not specially deal with Tunisian news, critical points of view recently formulated by the historian against the anti-democratic evolution of the Tunisian power seems to us clearly constitute the backdrop of the cancellation of the event. Just like the presence of participants who have continued to denounce in recent months the drift of Tunisian institutions towards an omnipotent presidency.
The censorship of which Sophie Bessis is not the only one to be the object is an additional and alarming manifestation of the authorities’ will to silence civil society, intellectuals and all independent institutions that are ‘Oppose the return of practices that we thought was belonging to the past.
This is the reason why we express our solidarity with Sophie Bessis by denouncing this unacceptable attack on freedom of expression and by expressing our concern before the increasingly clear will of the power to censor intellectuals who want to continue to be expressed freely.