International day of action for the release of Mohamed Abbou

Reporters Without Borders is among organisations joining a day of action on 21 September 2005 for the release of Mohamed Abbou, imprisoned since 1st March for criticising President Ben Ali in an article posted on the Internet. An Internet banner can be downloaded from our website. The joint statement: "In taking Mohamed Abbou hostage, the government is seeking to silence human rights activists, by punishing one of its emblematic figures to make an example of a man who has always acted free of charge in cases involving offences of opinion or human rights, and has become known for his work with the management committee of the young lawyers' association of Tunisia, as well as with the CNLT, the CIJ and the AISPP. Mohamed Abbou is also an activist in the fight against corruption and was one of the few lawyers prepared to act in corruption cases involving those close to the family of President Ben Ali. Today he is in Kef prison suffering inhuman and degrading conditions that are outlawed by all international codes on the treatment of prisoners. His unfair imprisonment constitutes a flagrant violation of freedom of expression. Mohamed Abbou was tried and sentenced on appeal in June 2005 to three and a half years in prison for having exercised his freedom of expression. The main charge against him is based on an article that he posted on a discussion forum on the website Tunisnews, criticising Tunisian prisons and comparing them with the Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail. His three-and-a-half year sentence amply demonstrates the absence of an independent justice system. His trial was, according to all the observers who attended, a travesty of a trial without cross-examination or defence speeches, during which the rights of the defence were systematically violated. The court also sentenced him on a second charge intended to denigrate him - in violation of rules of procedure - that of physically assaulting a “colleague”, someone close to the government, that was completely trumped up and supported by false evidence. The court also refused to hear witnesses to the incident, who could have established the fraudulence of the complaint. Mohamed Abbou's case epitomizes the major human rights violations experienced in Tunisia today. In calling for his release we also urge: The release of all prisoners of opinion held unfairly in Tunisian prisons (the Ennahdha prisoners, the Internet-users of Zarzis, Ariana, Bizerte and so on). The lifting of all control of the executive over the justice system and the bar. 3 - The removal of all forms of censorship on freedom of expression and a halt to the criminalisation of this freedom. 4 - The removal of all judicial and administrative obstacles to the work of defenders and in particular the right to meet and to form associations completely independently.” NGOs taking part in the day of action Article 19, Tunisian Association for the Struggle against Torture (ALTT), International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners (AISPP), Association of Tunisians in Switzerland, Tunisian Centre for the Independence of Justice and Lawyers (CIJA), Comunica.ch (Swiss coalition for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), lawyers support committee for Mohamed Abbou, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS), National Council for Freedoms in Tunisia (CNLT), International Federation of Human Rights (IFHR), Front Line (International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), Index on Censorship, Institut des droits de l'homme et avocats européens, International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), Observatory for the Defence of Press, Publishing and Creation Freedom (OLPEC), World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), PEN-Club, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (WACRB), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR). The banner "Release Abbou" An Internet banner has been produced for his day of action. It can be downloaded here: