Opening Speech - The Europaeum

PRESS RELEASE
M100 SANSSOUCI COLLOQUIUM 2011
Sihem Bensedrine holds Opening Speech at the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium
2011
Potsdam, 11 August 2011. The Tunisian human rights activist and journalist Sihem Bensedrine will be
giving the opening speech at this year's M100 Sanssouci Colloquium. Senior media representatives
from North Africa, the Middle East, Dubai as well as from Western and Eastern Europe will be discussing
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the topic "Global Democracy - A Triumph for Social Networks?" at the international conference on 8
September. Sihem Bensedrine is one of the most famous Tunisian opposition figures, spokeswoman of
the National Council for Freedom in Tunisia (CNLT) and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper "Kalima".
For over ten years she has been campaigning for freedom of the press and freedom of speech. After
enduring persecution and imprisonment, she went into exile in 2009. Following the resignation of Ben Ali,
she returned to her home.
Other participants of the conference include Stephan-Andreas Casdorff (Der Tagesspiegel), CANVAS
co-founder Slobodan Djinovic (Belgrade), Asiem El Difraoui (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin),
Nakhle El-Hage (Al Arabiya, Dubai), Said Essoulami (CMF Mena, Paris), Regina von Flemming (Axel
Springer Russia, Moscow), Peter Frey (ZDF, Mainz), Grzegorz Jankowski (Fakt, Warsaw) Hans-Ulrich
Jörges (Stern, Berlin), Christoph Lanz (Deutsche Welle TV, Berlin), Georg Mascolo (Der Spiegel,
Hamburg), Michael Naumann (Cicero, Berlin), Gamal Abdel Gawad Soltan (Al Ahram Center for Political
and Strategic Studies, Cairo), Frank Thomsen (Stern.de, Hamburg), Jillian C. York (Electric Frontier
Foundation, San Francisco) and Christopher Walker (Freedom House, New York).
The M100 is an initiative of the capital city of Potsdam and the association known as Potsdam Media
International. It takes place in association with the medienwoche@IFA.
This year’s colloquium is made possible by the support of the City of Potsdam, the Medienboard BerlinBrandenburg, the German Foreign Office, the ZEIT Foundation and Bertelsmann AG. Cooperation
partners include Freedom House, Radio Free Europe and Reporter Without Borders. With the friendly
support of Google, Audi, Air Berlin and Plista.
For more information, please visit www.m100potsdam.org
Sabine Sasse
Project Manager
----------------Potsdam Media International e.V.
M100 Sanssouci Colloquium
Hegelallee 6 - 10
D-14467 Potsdam
Tel: 0049-331-2010-101, Fax: 0049-331-2010 111
s.sasse@m100potsdam.org, www.m100potsdam.org