Security agents recently raided the house of Najib al-Obeidi, a filmmaker and a youth activist while he was with a group of artist friends.  The police arrested eight people who were present in the house, accusing them of ”attempting to form a gang.”

Among the detainees is the young filmmaker Abdullah Yahya, director of the film ‘Ala Hathihi al-Ard’ (On this earth), which won two awards at the Human Rights Film Festival in early October.

Security agents recently raided the house of Najib al-Obeidi, a filmmaker and a youth activist while he was with a group of artist friends.  The police arrested eight people who were present in the house, accusing them of ”attempting to form a gang.”

Among the detainees is the young filmmaker Abdullah Yahya, director of the film ‘Ala Hathihi al-Ard’ (On this earth), which won two awards at the Human Rights Film Festival in early October.

The film drew an unprecedented number of people who chanted slogans in support of Abdullah Yahya and demanded his release. Slogans also condemned restrictions on art and freedom of expression.

Among the detainees is Yahya Dridi, a sound engineer, who worked on ‘On this earth’ with Yahya. The detained group also includes two musicians, Mahmoud Ayyad and Saleem Ubayda, a member of the Jazz Oil youthful musical group.

Under pressure from the street, Najib al-Obeidi, who is currently finishing a new film about illegal immigration to Italy, was released from custody. The film may raise further controversy because it insinuates that the authorities are involved in the immigration problem.

Three amateur artists have already been released while the others were kept in the prison on charges of “consuming narcotic substances.” These charges were used by Ben Ali’s regime in the past to fabricate common rights cases against opposition members in order to put them in prison.  Among the charges are: “disrespect of public order” and “the consumption of narcotic substances.”

‘Bouchoucha Film Festival’ and ‘Mornaguia for Audiovisual Production’ became the jokes circulated by the fans of social networking sites when referring to the arrest of artists in the Bouchoucha and the Mornaguia prisons in the outskirts of the capital city.

After the revolution, Tunisian prisons received a large number of artists, actors, directors, screenwriters and even producers. This has prompted artists to make fun of this situation and say that there is a Media Production City inside the prison.

The rap too has its share in the city

Among the recent visitors to the Tunisian prisons is rapper Ahmed Bin Ahmed, nicknamed Clay BBJ. Ahmed was sentenced to six months imprisonment on charges of insulting the police and defamation of public servants. 

This ruling came after an appeal submitted by famous rapper Alaa al-Yacoubi,  (nicknamed Weld El-15) on a verdict of 21 months imprisonment in absentia issued by the Tunisian judiciary, for his song ‘Police Are Dogs’.

The arrest took place this past August when Clay BBJ and Weld El-15 were performing in a concert in the International Hammamet Festival. The police officers assaulted Clay BBJ and Weld El-15 immediately after they left the stage and arrested them. They were later released but a 21-month imprisonment verdict in absentia was issued against them. 

Clay BBJ is now in prison and Weld El-15 is still in hiding. The two are known for their bold songs targeting police and security officials and the interior ministry in general.

Among the visitors of the Tunisian prisons, too, is Nasreddin Suhayli, a young director and actor who was arrested on the backdrop of throwing eggs at the Culture Minister Mehdi Mabrouk in August 2013. 

Murad Al-Mehrzy, a photographer in Astrolabe TV was arrested and the two young men were accused of assault and conspiracy against a public servant while performing his duties.

It is noted that Nasr ad-Din Suhayli and Murad Al-Mehrzy are active members of the “revolutionary youth movement,” a political youth group that opposes the Ennahda Movement’s policies.

On October 11, Nasreddin Suhayli was sentenced to five months imprisonment with the postponement of implementation, while Murad Al-Mehrzy, the young photographer left the prison some days ago when the court decided not to hear the case. The two received support from the union of journalists, photographers, technicians and from different components of civil society.