Arrested Pirate Party Member In Tunisia Freed, And Appointed State Secretary

from the of-youth-and-sports? dept

As the situation in Tunisia got worse and worse over the last few weeks, there was an increasing amount of political arrests. We had seen a few reports stating that three "Pirate Party members"/online activists had been arrested, but the details were lacking, and it wasn't entirely clear what the arrests were for, or if it really had anything to do with their online activities. However, it is interesting to see that with the new, transitional government trying to get up to speed, it's released all of the political prisoners, and even named one of the jailed Pirate Party members, Slim Amamou, as State Secretary of Youth and Sport. That's sort of an odd title (and there apparently is some confusion as to whether he's a "minister" or "state secretary," but it sounds like everything's in flux). As is pointed out on his Twitter profile, he's against censorship and intellectual property rights -- though it doesn't sound like he'll have much of a chance to impact policy in either area in this current role for the time being. Still, it'll be interesting to see if anything actually comes of this.
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Filed Under: government, pirate party, slim amamou, tunisia


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Jan 2011 @ 4:45am

    Tunisia is in the middle of a government upheaval and nearly headed for civil war, and you are worried about IP rights?

    Priorities.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Axel Simon (profile), 18 Jan 2011 @ 4:46am

    Not that odd…

    The title may seem odd, but comes most likely from the French influence on Tunisia.

    See, Jeunesse & Sport (Sport & Youth) are a very common combination in France for a Minister or a State Secretary.
    We've basically had a Jeunesse & Sport minister or state secretary for as far as I can remember and since the end of WW2 probably.

    Furthermore, Slim Alamou, also Known as @Slim404, announced this on his Twitter feed, for those who would like to follow the man or see the notice for themselves: https://twitter.com/slim404/status/27026818003369988

    Anyway, what an interesting turn of events, it's fascinating to see the Jasmin Revolution and History unfolding before our eyes.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    abc gum, 18 Jan 2011 @ 4:57am

    Re:

    Priorities indeed - why are you worried about what others are discussing when there is such mayhem and upheaval to deplore.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Pete Austin, 18 Jan 2011 @ 5:34am

    Only an Interim Government

    If all goes well, this will be a temporary appointment until there can be proper elections. If all goes badly, I expect he will be back in jail. Either way, this appointment is likely to be brief.

    But @Anonymous Coward: Intellectual property issues are important, because you can't have meaningful democracy without a free flow of information.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    vivaelamor (profile), 18 Jan 2011 @ 6:02am

    Re:

    "Tunisia is in the middle of a government upheaval and nearly headed for civil war, and you are worried about IP rights?"

    Yet here you are, reading about him worrying about IP rights. I'm sure there's bound to be a pithy label for this sort of nonsense.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    avitarx, 18 Jan 2011 @ 7:04am

    I find this interesting because I believe the other plank of the pirate party is legalization of personal marijuana use, growth, and possession.

    This sends a clear message to youth that the two main things they do illegally are kind of OK.

    Maybe I am going out on a limb assuming the youth there are like the youth here, but I doubt it's that big of one.

    We'll see the elected government's policies soon enough if things go well though.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Hephaestus (profile), 18 Jan 2011 @ 7:37am

    One of my favorite resources on the internet ...

    The CIA Fact Book, Tunisia

    Its slightly larger than Georgia

    Literacy:
    definition: age 15 and over can read and write
    total population: 74.3%
    male: 83.4%
    female: 65.3% (2004 census)

    Thats better than the DC area.

    This following section Now needs to be rewritten

    Executive branch:
    chief of state: President Zine el Abidine BEN ALI (since 7 November 1987)
    head of government: Prime Minister Mohamed GHANNOUCHI (since 17 November 1999)
    cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
    (For more information visit the World Leaders website )
    elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held on 25 October 2009 (next to be held in October 2014); prime minister appointed by the president
    election results: President Zine El Abidine BEN ALI reelected for a fifth term; percent of vote - Zine El Abidine BEN ALI 89.6%, Mohamed BOUCHIHA 5%, Ahmed INOUBLI 3.8%, Ahmed BRAHIM 1.6%; voter turnout 89.4%

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 18 Jan 2011 @ 7:43am

    Re: One of my favorite resources on the internet ...

    I like that site too, but I'd hesitate to rely too much on information provided by professional liars....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    M2Ys4U, 18 Jan 2011 @ 8:18am

    Re: Avitarx

    Wait, what? Where on earth did you get the idea that the Pirate Party's "other plank" is marijuana legalisation?

    The Pirate Party is one of freedom and privacy. Both directly applicable to Tunisia.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. icon
    ltlw0lf (profile), 18 Jan 2011 @ 11:29am

    Re: Re: One of my favorite resources on the internet ...

    I like that site too, but I'd hesitate to rely too much on information provided by professional liars....

    Dark Helmet, in order to tell a really good lie, you have to know the background. Without background, the truth is rather quickly suss'd out. Thus, you have to have as much facts as you can. So, the CIA will include 99% true and valid information, and 1% BS, and you have to try to figure out the BS. Of course, you can also rely on the frog from Alice, and assume that one of the frogs always tells the truth, and another always tells a lie, and use that to determine where the error is...

    I treat Wikipedia in the same fashion...99% of what is on Wikipedia is true and valid, and 1% is BS, and you have to figure out the BS. Works pretty well, so long as you know that going in.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    Chargone (profile), 19 Jan 2011 @ 2:22am

    Re: Re:

    self defeating and entertaining to the readers?

    link to this | view in thread ]


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