Tunisia: A presidential pardon for opposition member al-Mawaadah

Tunisian opposition member Muhammad al-Mawaadah on Wednesday received a presidential pardoning on the occasion of Tunisian national day - 1956-, according to the French language Tunisian daily Lucitidian. Other Tunisian identical sources confirmed this news.

Mawaadah (63 year old ) the former chairman of the Socialist Democrats Movement was jailed in June 2001 after the decision to release him of 11 year imprisonment sentence was tracked back under the charges of " contacting a foreign side.." He was temporarily released on January 31st this year after he ended a hunger strike he started on January 14 asking for his release. Mawa'dah was the strongest former ally for the regime had severed relations with it after he published a message criticizing the status of freedom and democracy in Tunisia. This was before his arrest in 1995.

And then he was sentence in February 1996 before he was released conditionally in June 19, 2001 after the Tunisian authorities canceled his conditional release before the end of the legal period for his imprisonment."

Mawaadah, who nominated himself symbolically for the presidential elections for 1999 which nominated the Tunisian President Zein al-Abdidin Bin Ali for a new term of office in 2004. After his conditional release for the first time Muhammad Mawaadah started working to restructure the rebellion wing inside the socialist democrats which was cracked after it was under his leadership used to represent the main opposition movement recognized in Tunisia.

By the end of January, Mawaadah said that his release is an introduction to the political openness. He stressed his determination to continue the battle in the framework of the democratic national movement in order to establish a democratic system. he said he is ready to support any initiative for the authority to this effect.