Taoufik Ben Brik Taoufik Ben Brik Taoufik Ben Brik (born 1960 in Jerissa) is a Tunisian journalist. Brik is a prominent critic of the former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and an outspoken critic of censorship in the Middle East. He has published numerous articles, and collections of articles as books, abroad that describe the difficult economic conditions in the country, political corruption, and lack of free speech. In 2000, he was accused of publishing false information and other spurious charges, and went on a hunger strike in protest. He has been periodically detained in Tunisia and prevented from travelling, and
Sadok Chaabane and others. He also took part in numerous international symposia organized by the United Nations and the UNRWA. He attended Harvard University Summer seminar in Salzburg (Austria), and was selected to tour the USA as part of the Young African Leaders program. He never held a government post before 1987. He admired Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali since his appointment by Bourguiba in 1986 as Minister of the Interior. He told many of his academic friends who were political scientists and economists that Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali has now become the man of the moment, and that he would