Sarkozy praise for Tunisian rights 'progress' sparks outrage

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy's remark that "the sphere of liberties" in Tunisia is improving sparked outrage Tuesday among human rights groups and the Socialist opposition in France who accuse the North African state of torturing dissidents and blocking press freedoms.

"His unacceptable declaration has led him to legitimise the Tunisian regime's policy of repression," said Razzy Hammadi, the national secretary of the French Socialist party.

The French president has "sent a signal with very serious and dramatic consequences" for all human rights activists in the former French protectorate where Sarkozy is on a two-day state visit, said Hammadi in a statement.

Sarkozy's statement was a "stab in the back of the Tunisian activists who were...