Priority Cases
Fathi el-Jahmi, Prisoner of Conscience
Update: Fahti el-Jahmi has died in Amman, Jordan hospital following his transfer from detention at the Tripoli Medical Center in Libya. » See press release
LIBYA
 Fathi el-Jahmi © Private |
Libyan authorities arrested Fathi el-Jahmi in 2002 after he called for free speech and political reforms during a conference in Tripoli. For that “crime,” he was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released in March 2004 following international pressure. Mr. el-Jahmi’s freedom proved short-lived, however, as authorities detained him again just weeks later after he repeated his call for democracy during a television interview.
After refusing to disclose his whereabouts for more than a year, authorities transferred Fathi el-Jahmi, a former provincial governor and businessman, to a hospital in Tripoli in 2007, due to his deterioriating health. Mr. el-Jahmi has suffered from a range of medical conditions, including diabetes, hypertension and heart aliments
Fathi el-Jahmi was charged with "providing information to employees of a foreign state causing harm to the interest of the country" and with contacting foreign authorities. In 2006, a court reportedly found him to be mentally unstable, an assessment contradicted by independent medical experts. Despite a statement by the Gaddafi Foundation in March 2008 that he was free to go home with his family, Fathi el-Jahmi remains in state custody. Amnesty International considers Fathi el-Jahmi to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful expression of his political views, and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
