Journalist and former political prisoner Abdallah Zouari completed and an 11-year prison sentence in 2002, the authorities have continued to punish him because of hid criticism of the country’s human rights’ record. Mr Zouari Has been confined to a rural district, 500 kilometers from his family’s home in Tunis, jailed 3 times, placed under round-the-clock police surveillance and intermittently prevented from using Internet cafés.
As Abdallah Zouari reached the 5 June 2007 date which should have ended his internal exile, he had an extra 26 months added to his banishment, without any justification.