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Alert

Journalist Nizar Nayouf released from prison

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a WAN press release:

Paris, 7 May 2001
For immediate release

Nizar Nayouf Released From Prison

Nizar Nayouf, the prominent Syrian journalist and democracy activist, has been released from prison but remains under house arrest, the World Association of Newspapers learned Monday.




Mr Nayouf, who began a hunger strike for his release on April 24, was released on Sunday night and is now home with his family. He has, however, refused to end his hunger strike, entering its third week, because Syrian authorities have denied his request to leave the country for urgent medical treatment.

"We are delighted that Syrian authorities have seen the light and have finally released Mr Nayouf from prison. But he is confined to his home and is not yet free. We hope the authorities will realise there is no benefit in holding him and will allow him to come to France for medical treatment," said Timothy Balding, Director General of the Paris-based WAN.

Mr Nayouf suffers from leukaemia and other forms of cancer and is partially paralysed from repeated beatings from prison authorities. He is reportedly very weak from his hunger strike but has improved now that he is at home with his family.

Mr Nayouf, the 2000 laureate of the WAN Golden Pen of Freedom and the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize, began the hunger strike to protest his continuing imprisonment and to draw attention to his fight for human rights and freedom of expression. A condition of his house arrest is that he not engage in political or human rights activity, but he has reportedly refused.

WAN has led an aggressive global campaign for Mr Nayouf's release, bringing his detention and torture to the attention of the international community and its institutions, including the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Mr Nayouf was Editor in Chief of Sawt al-Democratiyya (Democracy's Vote) and Secretary-General of the Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedom. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1992 for disseminating "false" information. His sentence is due to expire in nine months.

WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom worldwide. It represents 17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 67 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news agencies and eight regional and worldwide press groups.