Free hunger strike journalist, Tunisia told

Press freedom activists Reporters Sans Frontieres are calling for the immediate release of jailed internet journalist Zouhair Yahyaoui who ended a two-week hunger strike at the end of last month (January 2003).

Mr Yahyaoui, who is being held in a Tunisian prison, had been complaining of acute headaches and gum problems. He went on hunger strike on 17 January in protest at the refusal by the prison authorities to provide treatment for his ailments.

"In any event, the suffering is so intense that I am unable to eat," Mr Yahyaoui told his family.

The journalist was arrested in a cybercafe on 4 June 2002, convicted of 'propagation of false news' for content posted on his web site www.tunezine.com and sentenced to two years in jail. He has to share a cell with 100 other men and has also been subjected to three 'suspension' sessions where he was hung by his arms unable to touch the floor with his feet.

Mr Yahyaoui wrote under the alias 'Ettounsi' which means 'The Tunisian' in Arabic. He launched tunezine.com in July 2001 to raise awareness about the problems with democracy and freedom in Tunisia and to publish opposition documents online.

Reporters Sans Frontieres have made several fruitless appeals to the Tunisian government for his release. "Not only does the Tunisian regime imprison persons whose only crime is to express themselves, but it also detains them in deplorable conditions," said Reporters Sans Frontieres secretary-general, Robert Menard.

Earlier this week Wang Bingzhang, a Chinese web essayist was sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly passing on confidential information to Taiwan and posting essays on the Internet that threatened state security.

It is hoped that the Global Internet Freedom Act (GIFA), to be implemented later this year, will help promote online freedom of expression and prevent web censorship.

Sources:
http://www.ifex.org/alerts/view.html?id=11805
http://www.ifex.org/alerts/view.html?id=11888
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/10/international/asia/10CHIN.html

See also: http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story548.html

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