(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is concerned about the health of Abdallah Zouari, a journalist from the suspended Islamist weekly “Al-Fajr” who has been carrying on a hunger strike since 27 January 2004 to protest the worsening of his prison conditions. On their last visit, his family, who had not been allowed to see him for two […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is concerned about the health of Abdallah Zouari, a journalist from the suspended Islamist weekly “Al-Fajr” who has been carrying on a hunger strike since 27 January 2004 to protest the worsening of his prison conditions. On their last visit, his family, who had not been allowed to see him for two weeks, found him to be in a seriously weakened physical and mental state.
“By authorising the launch of private radio and television stations, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali no doubt hopes to please his American counterpart, who is seeking guarantees with regard to freedom of expression. But evidently Tunisian journalists will just have to wait for real reform and the emancipation of the media! Perhaps President Ben Ali has forgotten that two journalists are still behind bars, having already spent more than 10 years in his jails? Maybe he is unaware that the family of cyber-dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui, who was finally released, is still being harassed?” remarked RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard.
On 18 February, during a visit by President Ben Ali to Washington, United States President George W. Bush reminded him on camera that he should accept “the need to have a press that is vibrant and free, as well as an open political process.” Bush emphasised his wish to see Tunisia “move forward in such sectors as press freedom.”
On 9 October 2003, Zouari was sentenced, on two separate charges, to a total of 13 months in prison for “defamation” and “failing to obey an administrative order”. The journalist had been released on 6 June 2002, having served an 11-year sentence for “belonging to an illegal organisation”.
Meanwhile, “Al-Fajr” editor-in-chief Hamadi Jebali has been imprisoned since 1991. In 1992, the Tunis Military Court sentenced him to 16 years in prison for “belonging to an illegal organisation”. He had just finished serving a one-year sentence for having published an article that criticised the military court system.
Finally, Chokri Yahyaoui’s computer store was closed by the authorities at the beginning of February 2004, with no official reason given. Chokri Yahyaoui is cyber-dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui’s brother. On 4 June 2002, Zouhair Yahyaoui was jailed and sentenced to two years in prison for “publishing false news” on his website TUNeZINE. On 18 November 2003, he was granted a conditional release.
