Tunisian dissident on hunger strike

An internet journalist imprisoned in Tunisia has gone on hunger strike

The Tunisian Government is believed to censor the internet more tightly than any other country in the world, with the possible exception of China.

Yahyaoui got two years for 'publishing false news'

Zouhair Yahyaoui, the founder and the editor of satirical website, www.tunezine.com, was arrested in June 2002, a year after its founding.

The site gave a space for opposition groups and politicians to air their views.

The 31-year-old was found guilty of spreading false information and sentenced to two years in prison.

Weak state

Virginie Locussol for media advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who have taken up his case, says he has been in poor health.

He is suffering an abcess in his mouth and bad headaches and he told his family he was starting a hunger strike last Thursday as he could not eat anyway, she said.

"He is very weak because he is detained in a cell with about 100 other prisoners," she told BBC Network Africa.

The director of the prison should ensure he receives medical treatment, but all he has received is two aspirin, she said.

Censorship

RSF says the country's leadership uses sophisticated methods to censor the internet in its attempts to muzzle free expression in the country.

Tunisia's cyber-cops

Bar access to non-approved web-sites

Intercept e-mails

Control internet service providers (ISPs)

Monitor internet cafes

Send computer viruses to dissidents

Source: RSF

"It is very difficult for Tunisians to have access to opposition websites," she said, and there is also widespread monitoring of e-mails.

Mr Yahyaoui's fiancee, Sophie Elwarda, told BBC News Online last year that people were extremely careful in Tunisia when they used an internet cafe.

"You must be very careful not to leave any personal details on the computer."

Otherwise, she says, you might be arrested by the cyber police if you have visited any dissenting websites.

She said that both main Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were run by relatives of President Ben Ali.