I must admit at first that my title is somewhat misleading in reference to my subject of concern Mohamed Abbou. A prominent Tunisian lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Abbou is technically free.

[Internet censorship is another novelty of the Ben Ali regime.]

For the record, Mr. Abbou has served time in jail. In April 2005, Mr. Abbou has sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for an online article in which he denounced the use of torture in Tunisia’s prisons. The government convicted him on trumped up charges, and Mr. Abbou ended up serving 28 months of his sentence.

Although free to roam Tunisia since July 2007, Mr. Abbou is still denied total freedom of movement. He has been repeatedly denied the right to travel outside the country. Because of his domestic confinement, Mr. Abbou has often sent regretful messages to his foreign hosts; including once to a conference hosted by Georgetown University which I attended.

It is obvious why the Tunisian government would restrict his movement. Mr. Abbou is invited to speak about his ordeal and the repressions that other journalists face in this Mediterranean nation, and Tunisia would rather have his voice silenced. Mr. Abbou is not timid and would not hesitate to speak ill of the Ben Ali government even in light of possible punishment upon his return to Tunisia. And even here the Ben Ali government knows its hands are somewhat tied, because Mr. Abbou is a subject of concern for Western human-rights groups. Amnesty International attended his trial and has since pleaded his case along with the Committee to Protect Journalists [CPJ]. The Ben Ali regime will often trend lightly against individuals supported by prominent Western governments for fear that the regime’s image would be further tarnished.

Usually writing about Tunisian journalism ends in a bleak note, but there is a silver lining in this story. Due to consistent pressure by Amnesty and the CPJ, Mr. Abbou has been given permission to travel.

Mr. Abbou told the CPJ that he had received a call Saturday from the Tunisian Minister for [ostensibly] Justice and Human Rights that he is free to travel.

The granted freedom came about a week after CPJ sent President Ben Ali a letter criticizing the violations of journalistic rights in Tunisia.

In speaking to CPJ, Mr. Abbou gave credit to the letter and similar activism. “There is no doubt that CPJ’s letter and other actions recently undertaken by international human rights groups helped prompt this phone call,” he told the CPJ.

Amnesty International had also recently stated that “Tunisian authorities must immediately lift the unwarranted travel ban on human rights defender and former prisoner of conscience, Mohamed Abbou.”

The last time Mr. Abbou was denied freedom to travel was on March 6, 2009. His new found freedom will certainly be appreciated and this is a victory for those who tire against the Ben Ali regime. But let’s us not celebrate in grandeur. A victory in a highly publicized case is no substitute for genuine reform. Tunisia still remains a nation hostile to critical journalism and where journalists are still harassed.

It was only a few days ago that the Tunisian president attacked as “unbecoming” that members of the press would have the temerity to note, say, corruption in the government. He further added that such practices are “not an expression of freedom or democracy.”

When a president believes and states that freedom of the press is not a necessary condition for “freedom or democracy” in the year 2009 in a national address, it is clear that Tunisia still has a way to go; a victory here or there notwithstanding.