Police beat two journalists when they try to interview detained lawyer's wife

Two journalists, Slim Boukhdir and Taoufik Al-Ayachi, were beaten by police yesterday in Tunis when they went to the home of Samia Abbou, the wife of imprisoned lawyer and cyber-dissident Mohammed Abbou, to interview her. A large number of police have been stationed around her home ever since she staged a one-day hunger strike on 13 August to demand his release. Boukhdir works for the daily Al-Chourouk and is the Tunis correspondent for a website operated by the pan-Arab TV station Al-Arabiya. Ayachi works for Al-Hiwar, a TV station that broadcasts from Italy. They were accosted and beaten by about a dozen policemen and Ayachi's camera was confiscated when they arrived at the Abbou family home. Boukhdir managed to get into the house but was stopped, led away and beaten again when he came out. Boukhdir has often been harassed since he posted articles on the Internet criticising the Tunisian regime. His newspaper stopped publishing his articles in November 2005 and froze his salary in February of this year. The authorities have also refused to give him a press card and have confiscated his passport. He staged a hunger strike from 4 April to 16 May in protest, but the government turned a deaf ear. Ayachi has been subject to judicial proceedings on a charge of “illicit filming” ever since he covered a demonstration in support of Lebanon, during which he was beaten. Known as the “freedom lawyer,” Mohammed Abbou has been detained since 1 March 2005 in Kef prison, 170 km from Tunis. At a sham trial on 29 April 2005, he received a total of three and a half years in prison terms, which were upheld on appeal two months later. His offences included posting an article on a website that compared the torture of political prisoners in Tunisia to that perpetrated by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. His wife has staged repeated protests against his deplorable prison conditions, which worsened after she and four lawyers staged a demonstration outside the prison on 2 March. She and her children are also the targets of constant harassment. Reporters Without Borders and ACAT-France (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture) demand that the Tunisian authorities: - stop using physical violence and sanctions to silence journalists who take an interest in human rights issues; - respect their international undertakings as regards detention and release Mohammed Abbou at once. The two organisations also firmly condemn the harassment of Samia Abbou since her husband was imprisoned, and express their solidarity with her. Reporters Without Borders established a system of sponsorship more than 15 years ago in which international media are encouraged to adopt imprisoned journalists. More than 200 news organisations throughout the world are currently supporting journalists by regularly calling on the authorities to release them and by publicising their cases. Mohammed Abbou has been adopted by Aldaketa Hamasei-Cambio 16 (Spain), El Periodico de Catalunya (Spain), CIBL FM (Canada), Campus (Canada), Quartier Libre (Canada) and Le Métropolitain (Canada). ------------- Create your blog with Reporters without borders: www.rsfblog.org