Jebali ends hunger strike after five weeks

Imprisoned journalist Hamadi Jebali has called off the hunger strike he began on 15 September, Reporters Without Borders learned today in a phone call with his wife Wahida Jebali, who said she was allowed to visit him on 25 October. He ended his hunger strike on 21 October. She said the Tunisian government had promised to reconsider his case and open negotiations if he called off the hunger strike by 7 November. She added that he has lost lots of weight and is very weak, and has not yet been allowed a visit from a doctor. --------------------------------------------------------------------------05.10.2005 Concern about condition of Hamadi Jebali, on hunger strike for three weeks Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today about the state of health of imprisoned journalist Hamadi Jebali, who began his second hunger strike this year on 15 September. His wife, Wahida Jebali, has not been allowed to see him for the past two weeks. He has been in prison since 1991. “Hamadi Jebali's strength is weakened a little bit more by each hunger strike,” the press freedom organisation said. “We call on the prison authorities to let Wahida Jebali visit her husband so that she can verify his state of health.” Reporters Without Borders added: “We also reiterate our call to President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali for the immediate and unconditional release of this journalist. It is unacceptable that Tunisia, which is hosting the next World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), has kept him in its jails for more than 14 years.” Reached by telephone, Wahida Jebali told Reporters Without Borders that the last time she was allowed to visit her husband was on 20 September, when she saw him for 45 minutes. Since then, she had been denied the right to visit him twice, on 27 September and again yesterday. The guards claimed that he “did not want to come out” of his cell. Wahida Jebali sent President Ben Ali the following message by telegram today: "Mr. President, I would like to inform you that I went to visit my husband Hamadi at Mahdia prison yesterday (4 October) and for the second time I was told he could not receive visits. My daughters and I are very frustrated at the idea that Hamadi is in danger and we can only ask you, Mr. President to intercede and save the life of my husband, who has been on hunger strike for 21 days. Wahida Jebali” Aged 56, Hamadi Jebali previously staged a hunger strike from 9 to 25 April in protest against his being kept in a prison 250 km from his family. He was transferred on 22 April to Mahdia prison, which is 60 km from Sousse where his family lives. Jebali was the publisher of the weekly Al Fajr, the mouthpiece of the Islamist group An Nahda. He was arrested on 31 January 1991 and was sentenced the same day to a year in prison for libel after publishing an opinion piece by a lawyer, Mohammed Nouri, calling for an end to military tribunals. At the end of a trial that violated international standards, he was sentenced on 28 August 1992 to 16 years in jail for “belonging to an illegal organisation” and “seeking to change the nature of he state.” He is due to be released in 2007.


Over 15 years ago, Reporters without Borders created its "Sponsorship Programme" and called upon the international media to select and support an imprisoned journalist. More than two hundreds news staffs around the globe are thus sponsoring colleagues by regularly petitioning authorities for their release and by publicising their situations so that their cases will not be forgotten.
Currently, Hamadi Jebali is sponsored by Le Club de la Presse de Toulon.