Tunisian rights activist sees more dark years

Tunisia's leading human rights activist said she expects five more "dark years" of fear and repression if President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali is re-elected today as widely expected.

The North African state's stability and relative prosperity have set it apart from neighbours and made it an attractive destination for millions of European tourists each year.

But rights groups accuse Ben Ali - Tunisia's second leader since independence from France in 1956 - of running a police state that beats dissidents, muzzles the press and restricts political life.

"I don't see any reforms and even with all the past foreign pressure, Ben Ali has continued his repressive campaign, including torture and imprisoning people for expressing their political views," Radhia Nasraoui, a 50-year-old lawyer, said in an interview.

She added that there were currently around 600 political prisoners.

Nasraoui, who still suffers the effects of several hunger strikes, has campaigned for more than a decade against torture, arbitrary arrests and unfair imprisonment that has won her praise in the West and in the Arab world.

Nasraoui's husband and leading politial dissident Hammami was in prison for belonging to illegal political parties for 10 years, under both of Tunisia's leaders. He was also on the run for about 10 years.

Hammami said police beat him up a few days ago.

Tunisia's government says the country is steadily moving towards a democracy, heralds its economic success and denies that dissidents are imprisoned for their views.

Ben Ali has been in power for 17 years and could rule until at least 2014 if re-elected, thanks to an amended constitution. He took over from president-for-life and father of modern Tunisia Habib Bourguiba in 1987. In past polls he won over 99 per cent of the vote.

Ben Ali is an ally of the United States in its war on terrorism. He has crushed radical Islamic opposition, although a suicide bombing in April 2002 on a synagogue on the island of Djerba rattled authorities. The attack killed 21 people including 11 German tourists.

"The real success of Ben Ali is that he has managed to put fear in people," Nasraoui said.

Nasraoui and Hammami were both optimistic, saying one day Tunisians would no longer stand the pressure they lived under.