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Alert

Human rights activists Mohammed Abbou, Abdel Wihab Miatir and Radia Nasrawy briefly detained, prevented from attending human rights symposium

(ANHRI/IFEX) - On 22 February 2009, ANHRI condemned the decision of the Tunisian security forces to resort to a cheap trick in order to prevent three lawyers and human rights activists from participating in a symposium entitled, "Political and Human Rights Activism in Tunisia, 2009." The traffic police detained them for several hours, allegedly to document an infraction, while the three activists were on their way to Benzert, only releasing them after they had missed the symposium.

The three activists, Mohammed Abbou, Abdel Wihab Miatir and Radia Nasrawy, were on their way to the Progressive Democratic Party's premises in Benzert when the traffic police detained them for several hours. The police subsequently alleged that there had been a name mix-up.

According to ANHRI, the measure was "a cheap trick" adopted only by police regimes which resort to all possible means to prevent activists from expressing their views. These regimes, ANHRI said, have not properly responded to calls to respect the law or human rights, and their repressive practices need to be exposed.