President Kais Saied met on Tuesday afternoon at the Carthage Palace with Chokri Ben Nsir, CEO of the new printing, press and publishing company (SNIPE La Presse), and Mohamed Hechmi Blouza, delegated administrator of Dar Assabah. According to a press release from the presidency, President Saied expressed his support for the two ancient press institutions, especially after they failed to publish today as a result of a technical malfunction that was attempted to be repaired at 3am, followed by a second malfunction the same night. «This raises the question of whether this is a genuine malfunction or a deliberate one," the statement said. President Kais Saied reiterated that Tunisia is not ready to abandon its history, and that among its shining beacons are the newspapers La Presse and Assabah, because «Tunisia's history, present and future are not goods for sale.» The President of the Republic reiterated his commitment to merging the two institutions into a single entity that would publish the two newspapers and other titles published by the two houses. The meeting also discussed the history of the Tunisian press and the history of the texts relating to its organisation. The President of the Republic pointed out that the history of the Tunisian press is ancient and that the Tunisians' desire for freedom of expression is older than these texts. (Issued during the French colonial period). The meeting was also an opportunity to talk about a number of newspapers and magazines published in Tunisia, including the newspaper "el-Hadhira", along with a number of others, including La Presse and Assabah, and most of these newspapers played a historical role in the national liberation movement. On the other hand, the President of the Republic stressed "freedom of thought, which is the first precursor of freedom of expression" and that the Tunisian people "distinguish well between free thinkers who cling to their homeland and those who pretend to defend freedom of expression while not having freedom of thought".
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse