Tunisian state arrests TV producer for extortion

Sami Fihri Tunisian authorities Saturday arrested the television producer and director Sami Fihri, sending him to prison on charges of abusing power during the former regime and his partnership with a relative of toppled Tunisian president extorting the state television during the former regime by forcing it to sign contracts benefiting Cactus company for Television and Radio in which Trabelsi owns a 51 percent of its capital.
 This case includes a number of former directors of national Tunisian TV, former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, his advisor Abdul Wahab Abdullah and Trabelsi in addition to producer Sami Fihri.
Tunisian Ministry of Justice confirmed: "Accusation Summer Court of Appeal in Tunis late Friday August 24 issued an imprisoning order against Sami Fihri Cactus company GM in relation to the case of the company owned by Sami Fihri, and the relative of the toppled president Belhassen Trabelsi's extortion of state Television".
In his declaration to Arabstoday Fihri's lawyer Abdul Hamid el-Sayd claimed: "The procedures did not ensure basic human rights for my client including the inability of the defense team to have their legal right to submit written defenses for his client."
"This is unacceptable and is a scandal because of the hasty way the procedures followed issuing an imprisoning decision".
Fhri in a statement to "Express FM" accused the political adviser to the Tunisian PM Zaytoun, who is considered in Tunisia as the unspoken information minister of being behind .his imprisonment after forcing him to cancel a satirical program on Tunisian TV after he broadcast several episodes of it during Ramadan before receiving orders to stop
He added: "I believed that there was freedom of expression in the country after the revolution, but we angered the ruling authority and they treated me as if I am a criminal."