Kairouan, Tunisia - 18 December, 2011: Said Ferjani, 57, senior member of the political and communication bureau of the Nahda (Renaissance) party, hugs a friend he hasn't seen during his 22 years exile in front of his father's house who died in 2006 in Kairouan, Tunisia on 18 December, 2011. Said Ferjan's father died in Kairouan 2006 while Said was in exile in the UK since 1989. Said Ferjani started his activism in the Negra mosque of his hometown Kairouan when he was 16 years old, debating on politics, philosophy, economy and world events. In 1989 former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali turned against Nahda (or Ennahda) and jailed 25,000 activists. Said Ferjani was jailed and tortured. He then flew Tunisia and moved to the UK. He came back to Tunisia after 22 years, after former dictator Ben Ali flew the country.<br /> <br /> Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times
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