Moncef Ben Mrad, managing editor of the weekly ‘The Republic News’ was among several journalists named in President Moncef Marzouki’s Black Book.  Mrad was accused of being part of the propaganda system in Ben Ali’s regime. 

Moncef Ben Mrad, the Black Book introduced you as a journalist who had served the corrupt system of Ben Ali and who was involved in polishing its image.  How do you respond to these accusations? 

Moncef Ben Mrad, managing editor of the weekly ‘The Republic News’ was among several journalists named in President Moncef Marzouki’s Black Book.  Mrad was accused of being part of the propaganda system in Ben Ali’s regime. 

Moncef Ben Mrad, the Black Book introduced you as a journalist who had served the corrupt system of Ben Ali and who was involved in polishing its image.  How do you respond to these accusations? 

This Black Book dishonored many people and I am not here to speak about myself but other journalists and intellectuals whose sanctity was violated.  It was an opportunity to settle old accounts or to polish the image of the interim president, who does not have lots of popularity in the country.

I personally accuse him of lying. In the book it is said that I defamed the opposition in Tunisia but this is a pure lie. I did not defame any politician nor did I write one word against any Tunisian opposition member.

As a director of a media outlet, how did you deal with Ben Ali’s regime? How did other journalists deal with the pressures exerted by the ruling regime on journalists in order to make them yield?

There are different levels with regard to the responsibility of journalists in boosting the image of the former regime.  Some journalists used defamation, others had written security reports against their colleagues, and there were those who praised the ruling family, the corrupt and the thieves. There were also those who wrote articles praising the achievements of Ben Ali’s regime.  There is a huge difference between those who made some people lose their lives and those who have only stolen an apple.  There is no logical similarity between the two.

Where do you classify yourself?

I did not defame anybody in my life and I did not write anything against the opponents of the regime. On the contrary, I supported them. I took the side of Nejib Chebbi, who is an opposition figure and I also supported Radhia Nasraoui, a human rights activist, when she went on a hunger strike. I wrote in support of Busayri Bouebdelli when the ruling regime wanted to withdraw its school license.  In the early nineties, I was the only head of a newspaper who visited Riad Ben Fadhel after the assassination attempt on his life by Trabelsi family, the relatives of Ben Ali.

What made them list your name in the Black Book?

My name was listed because I disagree with Moncef Marzouki. I only wrote about positive things that have been actually achieved in the country and which the former regime can be credited for realizing. 

What is happening today in Tunisia is one thousand times worse than what was happening during Ben Ali’s era. It was then known that members of the former regime’s family, especially his sons-in-law, were the people who made corruption their profession.  I challenge them all to bring me one line that I wrote which praised any member of this corrupt family, as the current presidency claims.  My newspaper was the most courageous one in a country that does not have any deeply rooted democratic traditions. 

What is your relationship to the Tunisian Agency of External Communication, which is exclusively entrusted with the task of polishing the image of the former regime?

It is a normal relationship and it was similar to the relations with all other newspaper.  We were getting $15,000 every year for the advertisement space just like all other Tunisian newspapers.

Away from the Black Book, do you feel guilty and blame yourself sometimes because you did not have the courage to confront the former regime’s system?

I do not regret my past at all. I wrote with conscience and I said what should be said.  I wrote in support of the opposition and Ben Ali alone. I believe that he is one thousand times better than the interim president. During the era of Ben Ali, the country did not suffer such an economic damage or political problems. The image of Tunisia was not as bad as it is today in international forums.

 Moreover, the time period covered by the book was characterized by absence of any critical voices and everybody was in harmony with the regime, with the exception of very few persons such as Nejib Chebbi and Hamma Hammami. 

Do you believe that the timing of the Black Book is innocent?

I don’t think that the persons who are working with the president and who finalized this book have any political motives. The main purpose behind publishing the book is to bring Moncef Marzouki back to the next presidential election race. However, this book has proved that he does not have enough ethics, political formation and a comprehensive vision of the country’s problems to hold the position of the president of the republic which he is seeking.  If he is aiming at the elections, I will be the first one to oppose him and I will not hesitate to disclose his shameful deeds.

Do you think that Marzouki in his book has the executioner and the victim on the same level?

The interim President has put the state’s archives on the side of the road and added to his book many lies.  I challenge him to give me a single bit of evidence on what he said.

I think that the timing of the book did not at all take into consideration the interests of the country and it shows that there is a lack of awareness on the severity of the political crisis witnessed by the country.

According to the Black Book and Marzouki who stands behind it, this was an attempt to apply some kind of transitional justice. 

The justice chosen by Marzouki in this book was a selective and retaliatory justice.  It has brought harm to the transitional justice project and it liberated those who are actually involved in the propaganda system of Ben Ali, instead of holding them accountable.  

In your opinion, how will history remember Moncef Marzouki?

Marzouki has harmed the interests of Tunisia and its future. I am confident that he is the worst person to live in the Carthage Palace.  I personally do not acknowledge him as the president of the Republic.