Journalist calls off hunger strike after being rushed to hospital

After suffering a mild heart attack and being rushed to a private clinic on 25 February, journalist Abdallah Zouari "suspended" the hunger strike he began on 23 January to protest against his banishment to the southern city of Zarzis, 500 km from where his family lives. He agreed to eat for first time in 34 days in response to appeals from several national and international organizations that voiced concern about his health and undertook to continue to support his campaign for the lifting of the internal banishment to which he was subjected after leaving prison in September 2004. He left the Zaitouna clinic yesterday after a full checkup. Reached by telephone, he told Reporters Without Borders he intended to resume his hunger strike if the banishment order remained in place. -------------------------------------------------------- 23.02.2005 Zouari sent home because Zarzis hospital is "overcrowded" Journalist Abdallah Zouari of the banned Islamist weekly Al-Fajr, now in the 33rd day of a hunger-strike in protest against an internal banishment order, was made to leave a Zarzis hospital late last night by the same cardiologist who had ordered his admission hours before. Zouari, who needs daily medical monitoring because of his hunger-strike, was rushed to the auxiliary hospital in the southern city of Zarzis at 4 p.m. yesterday after suddenly feeling ill. He was given some tests, the cardiologist on duty signed an order admitting him and then, after administrative formalities, a nurse brought a wheeled stretcher to take him to his room. The cardiologist changed his mind at about 10 p.m. and told Zouari he should call his relatives, who had already left, and ask them to come and fetch him. Asked to explain, the cardiologist said the hospital was "overcrowded," there were more urgent cases to treat, and there was no room for him. He gave Zouari a cocktail of drugs to "ease his discomfort" and sent him home. The French news agency AFP quoted another doctor who saw Zouari as saying he "was walking with the help of crutches, had lost 9 kg and was beginning to show symptoms of autonomic nervous system dysfunction." Zouari spend five hours on an intravenous drip in the Zarzis hospital on 9 February following a sudden sharp fall in his blood pressure. The hospital, which is a public one, refused to keep him in for observation although his condition required this, in the view of his personal doctor. --------------------------------------------------------- Tunisia - 23.02.2005 Abdallah Zouari rushed to hospital on 32nd day of hunger strike Abdallah Zouari was taken to hospital on the 32nd day of his hunger strike after he was taken ill while talking with relatives. His heartbeat accelerated and his speech became unintelligible. The heart specialist on duty in the emergency room at Zarzis auxiliary hospital took the decision to admit him for observation overnight. ------------------------------------------------------- Tunisia- 23.02.2005 Abdallah Zouari in ill health after one month on hunger strike A journalist of the banned Islamist weekly Al-Fajr, Abdallah Zouari, is in a very fragile state of health after one month of a hunger strike that he began on 23 January, his relatives have said. Reporters Without Borders urged interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem to react quickly and put an end to his house arrest under internal banishment so that he can lead a normal life with his family in Tunis. The authorities constantly turn a deaf ear to the frequent appeals for his release from Tunisia and from abroad, said the worldwide press freedom organisation. "It is appalling that someone has to get to this state before his rights and those of his family can be respected," it said, adding that his harsh conditions and deteriorating health demand that action should be taken quickly. Zouari told Reporters Without Borders by phone, "I began this hunger strike to claim my basic right to live with my family and my children. I am on the 32nd day of my hunger strike and despite this the persecution I have been suffering goes on increasing. Today there are dozens of police, both uniformed and plain clothes, posted in front of my house. There is no sign that the authorities are willing to ease my suffering and that of my family." Faced with the government's indifference, his mother, aged 75, his wife and his children also began a hunger strike on 13 February. "We have knocked at every government official's door and we have sent letters to everyone who could possibly help us, but we have never received any reply. So I decided to join him in his hunger strike," his mother Mahjouba, told the press. Zouari was released on 6 June 2002 after serving 11 years in prison. He was again arrested and sentenced to 13 months in prison in October 2003. Since his release in September 2004, Zouari lives in internal exile in Zarzis, 500 kilometres from Tunis, under close surveillance, while his wife and five children live in Tunis, where he was arrested.