Zawaya

The quest for more freedom continues

By: Salah Zeghidi

Political prisoners have been, unsurprisingly, a central issue in the struggle for democracy in the Maghreb for nearly forty years, as many democracy advocates in the region were detained for years in the prisons of authoritarian regimes…

Political imprisonment is unacceptable, as political dissidents should not be in prisons, but in the political arena, openly contributing to conflicts and debates in front of everybody…

Unfortunately, the regimes have a different view, as they seek to fully control society through a political and partisan model, and a media, legislative and security system.

Consequently, pro-democracy militants aiming to address the economic, political and cultural issues of their countries, find themselves forced instead to dedicate a significant amount of their time to emergency trials, and constantly claim acceptable conditions and a proper health check-up for their friends and colleagues who often serve long prison sentences.

Therefore, when authorities decide to release detained leaders, for any occasion or no occasion at all, it’s an extremely happy event for both those who leave prison, and those who never set foot in it…

The fact that that former political prisoners are counted by the thousands within a period of around twenty years – like in Tunisia and Morocco -, is an obvious and unequivocal sign of the deep democratic crisis in these countries, because democratic systems do not imprison their political dissidents, but rather debate and discuss with them, and they build together a political scene based on pluralism, diversity and accepting opposing views…

The recent developments in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria confirm beyond a shadow of doubt the end of tyranny, and the uselessness of the attempts to pause history in the era of dictatorship and repression.

Everyone should definitely expect an explosion of young and old energies that will seriously claim fundamental rights, force the State to adopt a new way of dealing with citizens, and establish an inclusive democratic regime, i.e. a State of democratic institutions and a society where democratic values prevail and rule…

The peoples should be in a permanent state of vigilance, because of the risk of setbacks that threaten the march towards democracy, progress and equality, namely black crows and the bats of darkness.