Bloggers around the world, especially in the Middle East, are mourning the death of Zouhair Yahyaoui, a Tunisian journalist and founder of Tunezine, an activist, alternative magazine.

Zouhair was imprisoned for 18 months, starting in 2002, for “spreading false news”, because he posted opposition materials on his site. In 2003, he won Reporters Sans Frontiers cyber-freedom prize for his work. During his imprisonment, he went on several hunger strikes and may have been tortured. He died of a heart attack on Monday, at age 36.

I found Mohamed’s post from Cairo very moving, reminding us, “People really die for this.” ordoesitexplode.com has an excellent overview of Zouhair’s life and work, as does Hou-Hou blog, in French.

The irony of holding the second WSIS meeting in Tunis grows everyday.

Bloggers around the world, especially in the Middle East, are mourning the death of Zouhair Yahyaoui, a Tunisian journalist and founder of Tunezine, an activist, alternative magazine.

Zouhair was imprisoned for 18 months, starting in 2002, for “spreading false news”, because he posted opposition materials on his site. In 2003, he won Reporters Sans Frontiers cyber-freedom prize for his work. During his imprisonment, he went on several hunger strikes and may have been tortured. He died of a heart attack on Monday, at age 36.

I found Mohamed’s post from Cairo very moving, reminding us, “People really die for this.” ordoesitexplode.com has an excellent overview of Zouhair’s life and work, as does Hou-Hou blog, in French.

The irony of holding the second WSIS meeting in Tunis grows everyday.