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March 14, 2005
Tunisian Cyber Dissident Dies of Heart Attack
Sad news from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) this morning: Tunisian cyber dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui has died. Using the pseudonym "Ettounsi," which means "Tunisian" in Arabic, Yahyaoui founded the website tunezine.com, to document the poor state of free expression in Tunisia. Because of this online work, he was imprisoned by the Tunisian government for nearly 18 months, released just prior to the December 2003 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Tunisia will host the next WSIS summit this November.
"We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Zouhair," RSF said in a statement. "This young man was a courageous activist and resolute defender of free expression in his country. He always fought for the right to freely inform his fellow citizens. Even prison failed to silence him."
Zouhair Yahyaoui was 36 years old.
-andy
Posted by acarvin at March 14, 2005 10:28 AM
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