"Ettounsi" ("The Tunisian"), Yahyaoui, the founder of a popular and flourishing Webzine, was arrested last June and is now serving a two-year prison term. His "crime" appears to be in part his sense of humor: his lively magazine invited readers to vote on whether Tunisia was a "republic, a kingdom, a zoo or a prison." The results of this interesting poll are unclear, however, because not long after it appeared, Yahyaoui was seized by members of Tunisia's security services at his place of work (a cyber caf� on the outskirts of Tunis). He was escorted back to his house, which was then searched without a warrant, and taken into custody. For five days nobody was told of his whereabouts. But visitors to his Web site found that its pages were no more.
Siobhan Dowd DFN
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