Tunisian writer freed

Tunis - Tunisian dissident, writer and lawyer Mohamed Abbou was released from prison in Le Kef, Tunisia, where he had been held since his arrest in March 2005. Abbou was sentenced to prison for three-and-a-half years for exposing torture in Tunisian prisons on the Internet.

His release has been welcomed by a number of rights groups including the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) Tunisian Monitoring Group (TMG), and the Observatory for Freedom of the Press, Publishing and Creation (Observatoire pour la liberté de presse, d'édition et de creation, OLPEC).

In a statement to Al Jazeera on Tuesday evening, Abbou said, "As a former prisoner of conscience, I would like to thank all those in Tunisia and the rest of the world who stood by my side during the ordeal I have been through. The Tunisian authorities offered time and again to release me from prison on condition of signing a letter of apology. But I refused to do so."

"My release is the result of actions of resistance to oppression undertaken by Tunisians capable of saying no to a regime in violation of basic human rights. The Tunisian Constitution and international human rights law guarantee the right to criticise the government, as long as there are human rights abuses and corruption. The lack of freedom led some young people to use violence, which I strongly denounce," added Abbou in his first interview since his arrest in March 2005.

Abbou's case has largely been a symbol of Tunisia's appalling human rights record and the subject of numerous campaigns and days of action.

The release of Abbou and more than 20 political prisoners came on the eve of the 50th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of Tunisia, marked on 25 July.

The IFEX-TMG expresses the hope that significant steps toward freedom of expression in Tunisia will follow Abbou's release, and that police and judicial harassment of journalists and human rights defenders should be brought to an end in the wake of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Tunisia.

Source: IFEX