Fathi Eljahmi
(also Fathi al-Jahmi, April 4, 1941 - May 21, 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 that reform in Libya would require a constitution, free speech and democracy. He was briefly released in March 2004 after U.S. Senator Joe Biden met with Gaddafi, and then re-imprisoned after calling for democratization 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 reportedly pleaded for Eljahmi's release from solitary detention. Eljahmi remained imprisoned. ElJahmi died on May 21, 2009 in Amman, Jordan, where he had been evacuated for emergency medical treatment after he fell into a coma in Libyan custody.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathi_El-Jahmi
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