Fathi Eljahmi ( 4 April 1941 - 21 May 2009) was Libya's "most prominent democratic dissident" until his death, and received significant international attention.

He was arrested in October 2002 and sentenced to five years in prison for stating at a 'People's Conference' in Tripoli

Tripoli

Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...

 that reform in Libya would require a constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

, free speech and democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

. He was briefly released in March 2004 after U.S. Senator Joe Biden

Joe Biden

Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...

 met with Gaddafi, and then re-imprisoned after calling for democratization

Democratization

Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...

 of Libya in a television interview. In early 2004 he, his wife, and his eldest son were taken into custody. The Libyan government claimed that Eljahmi was put on trial in late 2005, accused of the capital charges of "trying to overthrow the government, insulting Col. Gaddafi and contacting foreign authorities, after he talked to a US diplomat." During her visit to Libya, the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

 pleaded for Eljahmi's release from solitary detention. Eljahmi remained imprisoned.
ElJahmi died on 21 May 2009 in Amman, Jordan, where he had been evacuated for emergency medical treatment after he fell into a coma

Coma

In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...

in Libyan custody.

External links

• Amnesty international report.
• Dissident Watch: Fathi El-Jahmi, Middle East Quarterly, meet the man Mu'ammar al-Gadhafi doesn't want anyone to meet.
• Free Fathi El Jahmi Petition
• Weekly Update, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Nov 9, 2004