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November 19th, 2021 
Awake Goy 
The banning of a book about Parliament Speaker, Rached Ghannouchi, from the book fair sparked controversy in Tunisia, while the Director of the fair justified the decision because the book’s publishing house was “violating” the fair’s laws. He denied the existence of any political motives behind this matter.
Some social media pages in support of the Ennahda movement, circulated news about the banning of a book entitled “Rached Ghannouchi and the Islamic Renaissance in Tunisia”, noting that the book, which describes Ghannouchi as “the true revolutionary” and the influence of the Ennahda movement on political life in Tunisia, was banned through direct instructions from the Minister of Culture, Hayat Ketata.
The Director of the book fair, Mabrouk Mannai, said that “the reason for the seizure and the issuance of a report (against the publishing house) is the failure of the exhibitor to declare the aforementioned address, which is a violation of the established procedures.”
He also pointed out that “the joint committee comprising the book fair and the Tunisian Organization for Copyright and Related Rights (OTDAV) based in the exhibition hall to monitor literary theft, has issued four violations related to publisher’s rights and copyright violations since the exhibition was launched last Thursday.”
READ: Tunisia parliament delegation to attend inter-parliamentary conference in Spain
Meanwhile, constitutional expert, Rabih Kharaifi, revealed that the Book Fair’s management had banned his new book, “Corruption and the Failed State – Tunisia as a model”. He wrote on his Facebook page: “Just informed today, 17 November 2021 – Mr. Habib Al-Zoghbi, owner of “Al-Kitab”, the publisher and distributor of the book, that the exhibition’s management forcibly prevented the display of the book on the pretext that it “offends Tunisia”, even though it is on the display list. This behaviour is strange and the argument is funny.”
MP, Saad Hajlawi, commented on what Kharaifi wrote by saying, “Rabih Kharaifi was creative in misinterpreting the Constitution and Chapter 80 of the Constitution. He even came up with innovations about constitutional law that the jurists have not known throughout the ages, and that is to get closer to the rulers and palaces, so he ended up losing from both sides.”
Former Parliamentarian, Sabrine Goubantini wrote: “Poor you, Tunisia! They are banning and confiscating books from you!”
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