New Amendments inTunisian Press Code The Tunisian Chamber of Deputies voted April 30, 2001 in favor of a bill introducing new amendments into Tunisia's Press Code. The amendments introduce the following changes in the Press Code : Elimination of the charge of "defaming public order", considering the ambiguity of the charge and the multiple interpretations that can be made of it. Increasing the minimum ratio of media professionals and journalism graduates in any one publication, from one third to one half of the full time writers employed by that publication. Removal of the possibility of prison terms as sentences for those found guilty of certain charges (such as falsely presenting advertising material as news items). Shortening the period of suspension of any publication by a court of law from six to three months. Simplification of the legal procedure requiring the deposit of a number of copies of each publication. All members of the parliament voted for the amendments, with the exception of six opposition members who abstained. Of the 182 members of the Chamber of Deputies, 34 belong to the opposition. Before finalizing the draft bill, the government held discussions for several months with media professionals, press and publishers organizations. Committee-level hearings have been held on the issue in the Tunisian Parliament since last December. This is the third amendment of the Press Code since the accession of President Ben Ali to the highest executive office. President Ben Ali had announced last November the press code amendments as part of a package of measures boosting public freedoms. He said a new bill will be presented to the Chamber of Deputies "so as to do away with provisions of prison sentences and "abolish the penal charge of "defaming public order" considering the "vagueness of this notion". Text of Statutory Law amending the Press Code Article 1: Provisions of Articles 8(2), 15 bis,19(2), 23(2), 51, 73(2), of the Press Code are abolished and replaced by the following: Article 8(2), new: The printer shall deposit 20 copies of periodical publications at the ministry in charge of information for the Tunis, Ariana, Ben Arous, and Manouba governorates and, as far as other governorates are concerned, at the respective governorate offices; these shall be disseminated to concerned departments. Article 15 bis, new: The manager of any periodical publication with an information content shall prove at any time that he employs full-time journalists holding a professional card as well as a degree in journalism and communication delivered by a Tunisian higher education institution or an equivalent degree in the same field. As to publications with an editorial staff of one or two full-time individuals, one of these shall hold a degree as mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article. Article 19 (2), new: Any person found guilty of lending his/her name in any way to the owner or financier of any publication shall pay a fine ranging from 10,000 to 40,000 dinars, a penalty covering the original offenders as well as their associates; the court may also rule to discontinue the publication. Article 23 (2), new: Acceptance by the owner, the manager, or any employee thereof of an amount of money or any other benefit to publish an advertisement under the guise of a news item shall entail payment of a fine equal to the amount accepted but, in any case, no less than 50,000 dinars. Article 51, new Any offender committing libel in one of the media mentioned in Article 42 of this Code on the judicial branch, the land, sea, and air forces, official bodies, and public administration shall be condemned to serve a prison sentence of one to three years and shall pay a fine ranging from 120 to 1,200 dinars. Article 73 (2), new In the case of proceedings implementing provisions set forth in Articles 43, 44, and from 46 to 49 of this Code, the Court looking into the main case, after hearing concerned parties may, within eight days, decide, in the consultation chamber, to suspend the periodical publication object of the said proceedings for a period not exceeding three months for daily publications and a period not exceeding six months for other periodical publications. Article 2 Articles 35, 37, 38, 39, 45, 61, and 62 are removed from the Press Code and inserted into the Penal Code and shall be respectively numbered 315 bis, 303 bis, 303 ter, 321 bis, 200 bis, and 121 bis and ter. Article 3 Article 56 is removed from the Press Code and inserted into the Postal Code and shall be numbered 29 bis. Article 4 Article 15 bis shall enter into force within six months of implementing this statutory law.