Tunisian journalist Mahmoud Bouneb has been kept in Qatar for nearly three years. The charge against him was squandering of public money. Bouneb’s lawyers and human rights organizations say the real reason for his travel ban is a dispute with Sheikha Mozah, wife of the former Qatari emir and mother of the current one.

Tunisian journalist Mahmoud Bouneb has been kept in Qatar for nearly three years. The charge against him was squandering of public money. Bouneb’s lawyers and human rights organizations say the real reason for his travel ban is a dispute with Sheikha Mozah, wife of the former Qatari emir and mother of the current one.

Bouneb’s ordeal began when the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development, a former owner of two children’s TV channels, al-Jazeera Children’ Channel and the Baraem Channel, dismissed him from his post as chief executive in September 2011, together with the entire administrative staff and a large number of Arab employees. The two channels were later sold to al-Jazeera News.

But that was only the beginning. On September 27, 2011, the Qatari authorities confiscated his passport and credit card, and public prosecutors charged him with wasting public money. The Tunisian journalist claims that his case was prolonged and became a public issue because he fell into a row with Sheikha Mozah, one of the most powerful women in Qatar.

An issue beyond the law

In the beginning, the Tunisian journalist thought it was merely an employer-employee dispute. When the Qatari authorities proved his innocence, Mozah sought the advice of the Swiss-based consultancy Ernst and Young, which also confirmed his innocence and established that there was no financial manipulation. Even with these two confirmations, Bouneb’s travel ban hasn’t been lifted, a sign that the issue is beyond the law and even beyond the promises made by the Qatari emir who said that he would personally intervene.

Bouneb’s suspicions were further confirmed when Qatari authorities refused to respond to the visa applications submitted by the Commission for the Support of Mahmoud Bouneb, which consists of Abdul Sattar Ben Moussa, president of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, Neji Bghouri, head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists as well as Correspondents Editor-in-Chief, and human rights activist Saeeda Garrache.

Indefinitely postponed

In a court hearing in June this year, a judge announced that he will postpone the issuance of the verdict virtually indefinitely – or more accurately until the commission tasked with auditing 3,000 hours of audiovisual production, in other words the duration of Bouneb’s work with the two al-Jazeera channels – from 2004 and until 2011.

“Qatar continues to arbitrarily detain a Tunisian citizen and to violate human rights,” Saeeda Garrache told Correspondents. “We have decided to intensify our activities especially because all the promises made by the emir of Qatar to personally intervene came to nothing.”

A fabricated case

The Tunisian human rights activist believes the case has been fabricated from the outset, especially after reviewing the list of accusations made by Sheikha Mozah, owner of the two channels, against Mahmoud Bouneb.

According to Garrache, this is a political issue. “The Qatari judiciary is trying all means to keep the status of Bouneb as it is,” she said. “And the judge has become a party in this case because of the intervention of the royal family, and the conflict between the Qatari emirs. Bouneb is paying the price by losing his right to move freely.”

After appearing before the court in February 2014 in Doha, Bouneb said on Skype that the whole issue has been fabricated with the aim of getting rid of him and arbitrarily get rid of 11 employees, the same way they did another 130 employees.

Intensifying activities

“Now we only have one option. We should intensify our activities to exert more pressure on Qatar,” said Garrache. “We have already contacted human rights organizations in Maghreb as well as international organizations to promote the Bouneb’s case.”

“A few days ago, the head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists met with the Tunisian president, who promised to intervene,” she said. “A letter was sent to the Qatari Embassy in Tunis by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We will spare no effort to get Bouneb back in his country and with his family at the earliest.”

Government responsibility

The Commission for the Support of Mahmoud Bouneb asked the Tunisian government to take its responsibility for the case. It said that the ban on Bouneb is similar to the case of the Tunisian embassy employees held in Libya. The only difference, they claimed, was that in Libya the party holding the employees is unknown, while in the case of Bouneb, the state of Qatar is the party responsible for the ban on Bouneb.

Adnan Mansar, official spokesman for the Tunisian president, earlier confirmed that the emir of Qatar promised President Marzouki he would find a solution for Bouneb’s case as soon as possible, but this hasn’t happened yet. Moreover, there was no comment on this issue from Qatari authorities or by Qatar’s embassy in Tunisia.

On June 20, 2014, Bouneb’s lawyer Sultan Mubarak al-Abdallah submitted a request to lift the travel ban. He confirmed that his client has been deprived of adequate health care and of visiting his old mother and family. He also said that Bouneb was unable to meet his financial obligations, particularly with regard to his son’s education fees.